Trying to Fight an Invisible, Invading Enemy
by Anteater
Summary: I am sorry to inform you Mr. Booth, but you have cancer. B&B fic, posted in honor of my mother.
1. Chapter 1: The Diagnosis

A/N: This story is set right after Booth's brain surgery in the Critic in the Cabernet and The End in the Beginning never happened. So I have an extended author's note in front of this one but it's for a good reason. This story is dedicated to my mother, who is currently fighting the battle of her life against breast cancer. As a nurse, I have seen and helped many people fight cancer but seeing my mother live through the everyday struggles that accompany chemotherapy has made my realize the true impact that cancer has on not only the patient but on those who care about them as well. Writing this story has been a release for me, a way to sort through my feelings regarding my mother's disease and for that, I am grateful that these characters have given me the opportunity to find that release. What Booth goes through in this story is based off direct observation of my mother and I hope to do her justice. I am posting this story in her honor and thank you for reading.

Trying to Fight an Invisible, Invading Army

Chapter 1

He woke up, his mind fuzzy and his tongue stuck like glue to the roof of his mouth. The smell of antiseptic invaded his senses even through the nasal cannula that he felt resting against his upper lip, delivering much needed oxygen to his body and his healing brain. Though still orienting himself to his present surroundings, he knew very clearly why he was here. The memory of his condition came back to him through the remembrance of the fear in his partner's eyes as she pleaded with him to go to the hospital and trust in her that something was wrong. And it turned out that something was very wrong: a pilocytic cerebellar astrocytoma, or as he understood it, brain tumor. Suddenly, all the headaches and the hallucinations had an organic cause and everything that he had been trying to ignore the past year or so came screeching to the forefront and he had to deal with it quickly and decisively. So quickly, in fact, that he couldn't quite believe what had happened over the last day or so; come to think of it, he didn't know what day it was today, how long he had been out of surgery, recovering. Deciding it was time to figure out what was going on, he opened his eyes and squinted at the light that flooded his vision. The first thing he saw was the white walls of his hospital room, everything around him screamed sterility and cleanliness, just like the Jeffersonian. He looked around and saw his partner sitting in a chair by the window, typing away on her laptop, the crinkle between her eyebrows indicating her focus on her work. He tried to smile at the sight but found that his lips still were not responding to his commands the way he would like them to. Wanting to get the fuzziness out of his mouth, he tried to clear his throat to get his partner's attention, desperate for some ice chips if allowed.

At the clearing of his throat, Brennan looked up at him, surprise briefly crossing her face before concern replaced it. She placed her laptop down on the table as she stood up and walked over to the side of his bed, gently grasping his hand in the same manner as she did when he was wheeled into his surgery. It gave him comfort, gave him a tether, an anchor in the swirling waters of his thoughts. As if reading his mind, although he knew she would find that notion absurd, she reached out of a Styrofoam cup with a plastic spoon inside that was resting on his table, carefully spooning some ice chips into his waiting mouth. The ice chips melting on his tongue was a welcome relief and helped him feel more human. Moving his slightly to the side to see her better, he felt the scratching of the gauze wrapped around his head against the pillow his head rested on. Grimacing at the feeling, he knew that once the bandages came off, his bald head would show the scar of the back of his head where the incision was made to remove the offending tissue. And though had never considered himself to be vain, he knew he would miss his hair, preferring it keep it a little longer than he had to wear it when he was in the Army. Although the buzz cut worked for Jared, it didn't ever do much for him. When turning his head, he felt something on pull on the right side of his neck. Wanting to lift his hand up to check the source of the pulling but not wanting to pull his hands from Brennan's hands, he decided to wait, figuring there was plenty of time for that later. Forcing his wandering mind back to the present, he looked at his partner, who was softly stroking the hand that she held in both of hers. She smiled softly at him but it was not the smile that she normally gave him, tinged with a sadness that worried him.

"Hey, Bones," he said now that his mouth was no longer glued together. She squeezed his hand at his greeting and opened her mouth to speak when the doctor came into the room. She turned her head at the footsteps on the tile room, the nice Italian shoes of the doctors echoing throughout hallways. She was happy to see that Booth had finally woken up; he had been in a medically induced coma for three days, allowing his brain time to heal. The nurses had taken him off of the sedation last night and she had been anxiously waiting for him to wake up ever since. After sitting in his room for three days, she was exhausted. Every time she tried to sleep, her dreams were invaded by images of children with dark brown hair and blue eyes, a perfect combination of the two of them. Children that would have to be put on hold for the time being, on hold until their theoretical father healed from his ailments. And there would be a lot of healing. While Brennan was not a pathologist, she knew how to read a pathology report and she knew that Booth had some hard times ahead of him. During these last three days, she had examined her life and resolved to be right by his side for the upcoming battle of his life, for his life. For she knew that if he were left to fight it alone, the chances of success would be substantially lower and she could never do that to the man she loved.

"Mr. Booth," Dr. Jergen said as he entered the room. "I'm glad to see that you are awake. How do you feel?" He was looking at what Booth assumed was his chart and hadn't looked him in the eyes just yet. Booth liked to think that he was good at reading people and if his instincts were correct, there was something that the doctor was hiding from him. He looked at Brennan worriedly, but she just squeezed his hand again and gave him a nod.

"I feel okay," Booth told him, gripping Brennan's hand as he waited for what the doctor was going to tell him.

"Good, good," Dr. Jergen said. "I am here to tell you Mr. Booth that the surgery went well. We were able to excise the tumor without any complications. Unfortunately, the tumor is not the problem now. The tumor was located next to capillaries that drain into the lymph system and we found a micro-metastasis in your right cervical lymph node. After removing the lymph node and doing a biopsy on it, I am sorry to inform you that the tumor cells were malignant and that those cells are now spreading throughout your body. You have cancer, Mr. Booth."

All the thoughts Booth had swirling around in his brain suddenly came to a stop as the only thought remaining centered around one word: cancer. He looked up to see Dr. Jergen's lips moving but heard none of the words coming out of his mouth. All he was thinking about was what was happening inside his body, how for once he was fighting an enemy that he couldn't see and couldn't kill without killing himself in the process. This enemy was invading his body and it was made up of his own cells and his own DNA. Looking over at Brennan, he was pleading with her silently to tell him it wasn't true, that he was still asleep and all of this was just a horrible dream. But he only saw the truth of his situation in her eyes, the sympathy and the concern for his well being shining through her crystal clear blue eyes. She gave him a sad smile and squeezed his hand once more before turning to the doctor.

"Dr. Jergen, is there any way that we could postpone this discussion to a later time? I think this information is all too overwhelming at this point," she said. She could see the terror plain in Booth's eyes and it scared her. Never in their partnership had she known him to be scared of anything but this wasn't just anything; this was something that he couldn't fight using his superior training and intellect. And it was something that with all of her intelligence, she couldn't rationalize or reason out.

"Of course, Dr. Brennan. I am actually here to inform you that I am now off the case as cancer is not my area of expertise. Dr. Liao, our oncologist, will be taking over your case from here and should be in within the hour to discuss treatment options with you." Right before Dr. Jergen left the room, he turned back around to face the pair in the room who was lost in each other's eyes and the bad news. "Mr. Booth, I wish that the news was better and I am sorry."

Booth nodded once to the doctor and he turned back to Brennan. He heard the shoes scrap across the floor again, indicating that the doctor left the room again. He couldn't think of anything else right now except that he was glad that she was hear with him, that someone whom he loved was with him during this time and hoped she would remain with him. He thought of his son, the other person he loved most in this world and how he was going to tell him that his father was sick. He just hoped that there was some treatment they could give him; he wanted so much to watch his son grow up and to have a chance at a relationship with his partner and that kid that she wanted just a few short days ago, before his world was turned upside down.

"Are you okay, Booth?" Brennan asked him, worried about his silence. She knew that he needed time to process this news. Hell, it took her two days to process and she was not the one with the cancer. But, like in many other situations she had been in in the past, she did not know what to say and was afraid that she would say the wrong thing. And at this point, it looked like the smallest thing could break him right now. He looked so small and vulnerable in the hospital bed, nothing like the Booth she normally knew, the white bandage that was now covering his newly baldhead and surgical scar sticking out in sharp contrast to his pale skin.

"Hey, Bones," he said, a questioning tone in his voice.

"What is it, Booth?"

"You know that deal that we made that if I were ever scared, I would hug you, and then we would be even?" he asked, looking at her with the same expression that he did when he was looking for her before the surgery.

"I remember, Booth. I do have superior intellect, you know," she replied.

He smirked at her answer before becoming serious again. "Well, I'm scared now."

His confession made tears well up in her eyes and her throat tighten up. Without hesitation, she wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly to her, his head falling to her shoulder. His arms came up around her body and gripped her tightly, burying her head in her neck and inhaling deeply, letting her scent comfort him as it washed over him. She ran her hand soothingly over the back of his neck, the part that was not covered by bandages.

"I'm with you, Booth," she whispered in his ear. "Every step of this process, I am with you."

He gripped her tighter at her words, the first stirrings of happiness settling in him since he heard the news of his illness. With her support, maybe, just maybe, he could make it through this.


	2. Chapter 2: The Plan

A/N: Thank you all for the kind words and amazing reviews. This chapter might be a little OCC but cancer is such a game-changer I feel it could be within the realm of possibilities. I just finished my finals and am officially on spring break so updates should be pretty frequent. Thanks again.

Chapter 2: The Plan

By the time Dr. Liao, Booth's oncologist, had walked into the room an hour and a half later, the news of Booth's cancer still had not completely sunk in yet. The fact that something was killing him from the inside out made him angry and betrayed; angry that he couldn't do anything externally to fight it and betrayed that his body, his cells, was doing this to him. Brennan had been quiet since wrapping him in her arms; she just didn't let go, which he was eternally grateful for. He didn't know if he could answer or face any questions right now. She just climbed on his bed while letting him keep his head on her shoulder and she just kept on stroking the back of his neck, running her nails lightly over the skin there. He curled into her side, hating that he was being this vulnerable but needing her affection and support. And that was how Dr. Liao found them when he walked into the room, curled around each other on the narrow hospital bed. As they noticed his approach, Brennan began to disengage and move toward the chair sitting beside the bed but Booth stopped her with a hand on her arm and a subtle pleading look in his eyes. She nodded at him and sat back down on the bed, but instead of returning to her previous position, she simply grasped Booth's hand as he sat up against the elevated head of the bed. Nodding at her that this was okay, they both turned their attention to the doctor who was now standing at the foot of the bed. He marveled at their silent communication and had a hard time believing what the chart said about their relationship. There was no way they were "just partners."

"Mr. Booth, Dr, Brennan, my name is Dr. Liao and I am the oncologist that will be coordinating Mr. Booth's care from this point on," he started, watching the expressions on their faces. Noting that it looked as though they were anxiously waiting, he continued. "How much were you told, Mr. Booth?" he asked, needing to know how much his new patient knew and understood about his disease.

Booth felt Brennan squeeze his hand as he began to speak. "Well, I was told that my brain tumor was successfully removed but that before they got it out, it spread and now I have…cancer," Booth finished, almost tripping over the last word. He sat in a stunned silence after finally saying his diagnosis out loud. It was like it had not seemed real but now it hung in the air, the word sounding foreign coming off of his tongue but he realized that this was probably going to be the first of many times he would be saying that word as it related to him. Brennan looked at her partner, wanting so badly to help him but she didn't know what more she could do.

"That is essentially correct, Mr. Booth. I am going to tell you some more about your condition and then discuss some treatment options, okay?" Dr. Liao said. Booth and Brennan both nodded at him and he began to speak again. "Now, Mr. Booth, Dr. Jergen told you that they had to remove your right cervical lymph node during the procedure," Dr. Liao paused as he saw Booth raise his free hand up to the surgical stitches on the right side of his neck. "When we performed a biopsy on the tissue, we discovered that you had a micro-metastasis, which means that some of the cancer cells from your original tumor had spread to other parts of the body but that it is too small to be picked up on a screening test. That is why we didn't see that your tumor was malignant on the blood work we performed before you went into surgery. While you were sedated, we did a CAT scan and luckily, you do not have any more masses in your body, which means that even though the cancer cells are spreading throughout your body, they have not yet begun growing on another tissue." Dr. Liao paused once again, letting his patient absorb this information. He was very grateful to have someone with Dr. Brennan's intelligence in the room. He knew of her work and had no doubt that if there was something Mr. Booth did not understand after he left; Dr. Brennan would be able to explain it to him. That was the unfortunate part about his job; so often the news that the patient had cancer understandably put them into a haze so thick that anything Dr. Liao tried to tell them about their disease and their treatment did not sink in.

And this was what was happening to Booth right now. He had never considered himself stupid (well, except maybe when he was around the squints) but he could not comprehend a single word that Dr. Liao was saying to him right now. He looked over at Brennan, hoping that her genius brain was catching all of this and could tell him about it later when he was not imagining the cancer cells like little Pacmans swirling around in his bloodstream and eating up all of his healthy, normal cells. Brennan looked at him and their eyes connected with Booth drawing on the strength and fortitude he saw in her eyes. She was determined to be strong for him and guide him through this, using whatever resources she had at her disposal to make sure that he got the best treatment and care that was currently available.

"So, Dr. Liao, what kind of treatment were you thinking about?" Brennan asked him, knowing that Booth was incapable of thinking beyond his diagnosis at this point and wanting to find out what needed to be done for her partner. He felt Booth squeeze in her hand looked up to see gratitude and fear warring to a spot on his face.

Dr. Liao simply nodded at them before continuing. "So, the good news is that even though you have stage 2 cancer, it is treatable at this stage and e caught it just in time. Normally if one of my patients came in with this condition, I would start them one high dose chemotherapy right away but since you are recovering from surgery, I want to wait about a month or so before starting. For you, Mr. Booth, I am recommending six rounds of high dose chemotherapy to try and nip this in the bud right now before it becomes a bigger problem."

Booth started to zone out again once he heard the word "chemotherapy." He didn't know what he thought the doctor was going to say about treatment; he knew that chemotherapy was the standard treatment for cancer but again; he still had trouble of thinking of himself as a cancer patient. In his mind, he was still Special Agent Seeley Booth of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, who had a beautiful son that he loved and an amazing partner that he was in love with. But now, all he could think of was that he had a disease; he had transformed from a person to a patient.

"What kind of schedule were you thinking of for the treatments?" Brennan asked, her voice bringing him back to reality. He knew that fear was written plainly across his face and tried to use all the Ranger training he remembered to convince Dr. Liao and Brennan that he was okay. But he was failing, miserably.

"I want to do the six treatments, three weeks apart. You will be given a combination of chemotherapy drugs during an infusion session, primarily anthracyclines and topoisomerase inhibitors. I am not going to lie to you Mr. Booth this will not be easy. The first week after treatment is usually the worst of it; most patients experience nausea, vomiting, and fatigue. The second week of treatment is when your immune system is the weakest and you will not be able to go out in public or be around other people who might be sick. The third week will be the best out of the three; you will feel less fatigue and can begin to resume normal activities. Assuming this course of action is successful, patients have a 76-85% survival rate after five years," Dr. Liao finished, watching Booth's eyes widen at the quoted rate he gave him. He paused, considering how to phrase his next statement so it was the most delicate. "Mr. Booth, there is no cure for cancer, but with these treatments, we can hopefully delay it's progression to the point to where you can lead a normal life for the remainder of your life."

Silence filled the room as each person was left to their own thoughts. Brennan was thinking one step ahead, as always. She was thinking about where Booth was going to live during the five or months his treatment would take. It was obvious to her after listening to Dr. Liao's description of his treatment that he would need a lot of support, both physically and emotionally. And while she knew that she could provide the physical support, she was unsure on the best way to provide the emotional support. But she knew that for some reason Booth found her presence comforting, as evidenced by the grip he currently had on her hand. While Brennan was already making plans to move into Booth's spare room in his apartment, where she knew he would be more comfortable, Booth was also thinking about how he was going to get through this treatment. Even though Brennan told him she would be there every step of the way, he didn't want to assume anything. One of the things he loved about her was that she was fiercely independent and he didn't want her to think that she was forced to be there with him. He let out a breath that brought everyone back to the present.

"So, Mr. Booth, what do you think? Do you want to go through with the treatment?" Dr. Liao asked him, reminding Booth that he had a choice to not go through with the treatment as well. Booth looked at Brennan, locking his eyes with her, wanting to really communicate to her his will to live.

"I want to do the treatments. I am going to fight this."

He spoke the words with a confidence he did not feel but wanted to convey. He saw a sheen of tears form in her eyes as he said the words and she gave him a shaky nod as she squeezed his hand.

Dr. Liao nodded. "All right, then. I will leave word with my secretary to make an appointment with you when you are discharged. Between now and then I am going to recommend that you both attend a class about what to expect during chemotherapy about a week before we start treatment," Dr. Liao reached his hand out to shake Booth's hand and then turned around to leave the room after shaking Brennan's hand as well and giving her his card.

As soon as Dr. Liao left the room, an awkward silence descended upon the pair, each unsure how to handle the emotions they were currently experiencing. Until Brennan decided to break the ice in a big way.

"I want to move in with you," she stated in her usual blunt fashion. She almost laughed as she saw Booth's head whip around and give her what she had heard described as a woodland animal in the headlights. At the same time though, she saw what she assumed was love shining brightly in his eyes. She never told anyone but she had only seen Booth give her this look, not Agent Perotta not Cam, only her. And it gave her a feeling of satisfaction and belonging that she had never felt before.

She assumed that he would question her decision, try to talk her out of it, or use his typical alpha-male tendencies to convince her that he would be just fine. But when he simply reached his out his other hand and rested it on her cheek, pulling their foreheads together, she knew the depth of his trust in her, that this intensely private man was willing to let her help him through the battle of his life. And she fell in love with him even more.

"Thank you, Bones. I am not going to be able to do this without you," he admitted to her softly, as if saying it louder would make him less of a man. He was scared and he knew that he needed her. He felt her other hand mirror his position on his cheek and her thumb started to softly stroke the side of his face.

"Don't worry, Booth. You won't have to."


	3. Chapter 3: The Anxiety and Physics

A/N: Thank everyone for the reviews. I wanted to address some of the things that were brought up by my amazing reviewers. First of all, the financial impact that a serious illness can have on the patient and their loved ones will be addressed later in the story. We have an imperfect system here in the United States so it is an issue that definitely needs to looked into. Secondly, while chemotherapy and radiation can be used as a treatment for cancer, it is not a cure. To compare it, antibiotics can help you recover from a cold but it does not cure your cold, meaning that you will never get a cold ever again. Once chemotherapy is over, most patients are put on anti-tumor drugs for at least a couple of years after their treatment to try and stop the cancer from coming back. Some patients respond really well and are able to live a full life; others do not respond as well and their outcomes are worse. Unfortunately, once you have the alteration in your DNA that can cause the cancer to grow in the first place, it is always there and your cells can start growing abnormally again. I hope this clears it up a little. Cancer is a very complex disease and I hope that I am explaining it appropriately. Let me know what you think (as these wonderful reviewers did) and leave a review! This chapter was hard to write and I am still not completely happy with the final result so your thoughts are much appreciated. Thanks.

Chapter 3: The Anxiety and Physics

It had been three weeks since Booth was discharged from the hospital after his brain surgery and two and a half weeks since Brennan had moved into his apartment. He tried to tell her that he would be fine and he wouldn't really any help until he started the chemotherapy but she had none of that, insisting that his balance could have been affected by his surgery and he may need her help. Booth knew better than to argue and watched from his couch as she settled into his extra room, which was Parker's room. They had fallen into a pretty easy routine; Brennan would go to work at the lab everyday and because Booth was still on medical leave, she was temporarily off the rotation. Her days consisted of the reason she got into forensic anthropology in the first place, identifying skeletons that were centuries old. And while she never regretted the partnership between the FBI and the Jeffersonian (after all, she would not have met Booth), she found herself really enjoying her time now. Booth would spend the day finishing up any paperwork he had before he went on extended leave for his chemotherapy and working out, trying to get his healing body as strong as possible before his treatment. He had told Hacker about a week ago that he would need to go on medical leave for his cancer and while his government health insurance would cover the expenses related to his illness, he was worried that only having part of his salary for six months or longer. How was he going to pay his bills? They didn't decrease just because he had cancer. He had some savings and was hopeful it would get him through this time and if not, he would have to burn that bridge when he came to it. They hadn't told the squints yet, all of them assuming Booth wasn't in the lab because of his brain surgery. Booth and Brennan decided to go into the lab early next week to let them know, wanting to go to the education class first so they would be better able to answer the questions the squints would undoubtedly have for him.

The only time this arrangement was interrupted was when Parker came over for the weekend. He had only had his son one weekend since he had been home, a weekend in which Brennan spent on the couch. Booth was afraid that Brennan's presence was going to confuse Parker and bring up some embarrassing questions from the 11 year old. Brennan offered to go back to her place for the weekend but even though she had only been with him for a week, Booth couldn't bear the thought of waking up and not having her there. Everything turned out great with Parker, much to Booth's relief. Parker only asked once if Brennan was his girlfriend and he seemed satisfied after Booth stumbled out a 'no.' But Booth had a sneaking suspicion that his son saw right through that answer. They had gone to the park where he and his son played a game of tackle football while Brennan sat at the apartment working on her book. When the boys had returned, they were able to utilize Brennan's superior engineering knowledge and skill to build the best pillow/blanket fort they had ever seen. The weekend was great, until Booth knew that he had to tell his son that he was sick.

It had been a lot harder to tell Parker about the cancer than he ever thought. How do you tell an 11 year old that there was something inside his body that was killing him? Before he had come over for the weekend, Booth called Rebecca and let her know about his condition but asked her to not tell Parker, just to be ready if their son had any questions about it after their weekend was over. The conversation was harder than he thought it would be but Brennan was there with him, holding his hand and providing the pillar of support that he needed so desperately. But what was worse was seeing the pity in Rebecca's eyes when she dropped their son off. That was the last thing he wanted to see, from anyone. He was going to fight this until his last breath and he needed strength, not pity. After Booth told Parker that he was sick, he reaction was what Booth expected. He was confused at first but when it became clear to him that his dad could die, he was angry and then started crying. Booth just held him and told him that he loved him no matter what. That night, Parker wouldn't leave him alone, constantly touching him and Parker ended up in Booth's bed, leaving Brennan free to move back to his room. The next morning, Booth woke up to an empty bed and the smell of pancakes. He quietly went down the hallway, seeing his son mixing what he assumed was pancake batter while Brennan was flipping pancakes and subtly watching his young son. He was about to make his presence known when he heard Parker ask a question.

"Bones, is my daddy going to die?"

Brennan froze; suddenly wishing she could go wake Booth up so he could answer this question. She didn't know how to talk to fifth graders, especially about topics as sensitive as his father's cancer. But he wasn't here and she knew he needed his rest if he was going to recover as much as possible from his recent surgery. Booth was about to intervene when he saw Brennan take a deep breath, turn down the stove and lift his son so he sat on the kitchen counter, facing her.

"Parker, what do you think is happening to your dad right now?" Brennan asked, determined to figure out what he thought before telling him anything.

Parker paused for a moment, looking into Brennan's eyes. "Daddy said that he was really sick with cancer and that he was going to get sicker," Parker stated, his voice starting to wobble. The next part came out so softly that Booth barely heard it from his position in the hallway. "I'm really scared, Bones. I don't want Jesus to take my daddy yet."

Brennan had to keep from crying herself at the child's simplistic yet accurate view of the situation. "Parker, you know that your daddy is brave right?"

Parker nodded enthusiastically, adding, "And he is really strong too!"

Brennan chuckled at his answer and Booth felt his heart start beating again at his son's response after it had temporarily stopped when he heard his son's tearful confession. "That is very true, Parker. Now, your daddy is going to have to undergo some treatment to fight his illness that will make him weak and it will hurt him a lot," Brennan started, trying to figure out how explain chemotherapy to him in terms he could understand while she was talking to him.

"Like a shot?" Parker asked, trying to think of the worst medicine he ever had.

"Kind of," Brennan continued. "While it looks like the medicine will make him really sick, it is actually helping him get better in the long run. But for the rest of the year, your daddy is going to need your help because when he gets really weak and tired, you are going to take all the strength and bravery that your daddy has given to you and give it back to him, okay? Can you do that for me, Parker?" she asked, hoping that she was making sense to him.

Booth couldn't see his son's face from where he was in the hallway but he saw him straighten his shoulders and nod at Brennan. "I can do it, Bones."

Brennan leaned forward and gave him a hug while lifting him off the counter. "Thanks, Parker. Now we better get back to making the pancakes so there is enough for you and your dad."

"We eat a lot of pancakes!" Parker said. Having sufficiently composed himself to join his family, he walked into the kitchen.

"Who eats a lot of pancakes?" he asked, knowing the answer but wanting to goad his son.

"We do, dad!" Parker shouted, giving him the classic Booth smile and continuing to mix the pancakes. Booth went over to his son and kissed him on the forehead, which accompanied a groan, and made eye contact with Brennan, sharing in that simple look that he heard everything she said and was grateful for what she did. She gave him a smile and they continued to enjoy their morning, his cancer forgotten about for a brief moment.

*******

Booth was overwhelmed as Brennan drove him from the chemotherapy education class they just attended to the lab where they were going to tell the squints about his cancer and answer any questions they had about his treatment. Since his diagnosis, he had researched the type of chemotherapy Dr. Liao told him about on the Internet so he knew the principles behind the treatment but the education class had ended with a firm date for his appointment; the day after tomorrow, in what was to be the first of six three-week cycles of the chemotherapy. He rubbed his hand over his head that now had light fuzz over it, his dark brown hair growing back from when it was shaved for his surgery. He appreciated the feel of the hair between his fingers, knowing that he would be asking Brennan to shave it off tomorrow night per the nurses' recommendation. His treatment would make his hair fall out and instead of having to clean up his fallen hair; he decided to just shave it off. Parker had gotten him a brand new Phillies hat that he could wear when he had to go outside, protecting his head from the summer sun.

The car ride was silent as they headed to the lab. Brennan was watching Booth out of the corner of her eye, silently keeping tabs on her best friend. He was leaning his head against the window, running his hand over his head, his eyes closed, as he seemed to be deep in thought. She wasn't surprised that he was quiet, there was a lot of information given at the class today and even though the nurse educator was excellent, the appointment that he was given at the end of the class threw both of them for a loop. She certainly didn't think that his treatment would be so soon but going over the last month in her head, she realized that the appropriate amount of time had passed since Booth's surgery to begin the treatment. While Booth had been taken to view the infusion room, Brennan had pulled the nurse aside and asked some more specific questions about the symptoms Booth would experience. The nurse told her expect the nausea and vomiting but that Booth would be prescribed some anti-nausea medication. Brennan knew this already, having gone to pick up his medication a couple of days ago. She had not told Booth however because one of his medications for the nausea had cost over $300 and knowing that Booth could not afford this, she paid for it, along with some alcohol-free mouthwash that he would need to use four times a day to ensure that he wouldn't get sores in his mouth that could increase his discomfort. After talking to the nurse, Brennan was hopeful she would be able to help Booth with his treatment.

Feeling the car stop, Booth opened his eyes to see that they were in the Jeffersonian's parking structure. He looked over a Brennan and saw that she was giving him a reassuring smile. Sighing, he got out of the car and started walking toward the elevator. He was not looking forward to this. He just wanted to go home and spend the next day and a half in his apartment with Brennan, watching TV and listening to the comforting sounds of the keystrokes she made while typing her next novel. She watched Booth walk a couple of steps ahead of her toward the elevator and saw the slump in his shoulders. She was bad at reading people, but she could read Booth like she could read a skeleton and she knew that he was feeling nervous about facing the squints, as he lovingly referred to them. So she did something that even surprised herself, she walked up to him and grabbed his hand, entwining her fingers through his and continued to walk as if nothing had happened. If Booth was startled, he didn't show it, simply squaring his shoulders, giving her a small smile, and continuing to walk to the lab.

As they entered the Medico-Legal Lab, still hand-in-hand, the squints were nowhere to be found, probably off in their individual offices since there was not an active case. Angela's office was right by the door, so she was the first to see them. Having not seen Booth up and around since before his surgery, she happily ran out of her office, not missing the hand holding between her friends before wrapping Booth up in a big bear hug.

"It's good to see you too, Ange," Booth said, letting the humor project through his voice, hugging her back. He looked at Brennan over Angela's head and she smile and said, "Booth, I'll get everyone else and we can meet in my office."

"It's so good to see you, Booth. The lab was definitely not the same without our favorite Knight in FBI Standard Issue Body Armor," Angela told him as she released him. She looped his arm through his and steered them toward Brennan's office, reading in her friends that something was wrong but too excited to see them together to question what it was right now. She was hoping the news they were sharing was that they gave up that ridiculous "just partners" thing and were together but she knew there was something else there. Booth was grateful for Angela's lack of questions even though he was positive that she had a ton of them.

Entering Brennan's office, he saw that Hodgins and Cam were there, talking with Brennan about an identification they recently made. At their entrance, the room turned silent and Booth walked over to the chair that was open next to Brennan as the other three settled on the couch. Noticing their questioning looks, he began.

"As you all know, I recently had surgery to remove a brain tumor. While the surgery went well, the tumor was malignant and it unfortunately spread before they had the chance to remove it," Booth paused. "I have cancer."

Booth went on to describe the treatment and what he knew so far, trying to answer all the squints questions before they could ask him. When he was finished, he looked in the three stunned faces of his colleagues. In the silence of the office, he started to fidget until Brennan put a hand on his leg to cease the motion. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity but was probably only a minute or two, Hodgins stood up, walked over to him, and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"If there is anything you need Booth, you let us know okay? I don't care what it is," he told Booth, his voice tight and a slight tremor in his stance. "And I'm pretty sure that when you are on the chemo I will be strong enough to kick your ass and if I find out that you need something you are not asking for, I will do it," he finished. Booth couldn't help but laugh out loud at the comment, grateful for the humor. The tension in the room broken, the team gathered together and went to the diner for a meal together, continuing their question and answer session with pie.

*********

It was the night before his treatment and he was sitting on a bar stool they had moved to the bathroom, looking in the mirror at his newly shaved head. Brennan had just finished and was putting away the razor. Booth was scared. As far as he was concerned, the shaved head made him already look like a cancer patient. Brennan caught his look in the mirror when she came back in the bathroom and decided to proceed with what she was thinking about all day in regards to their relationship. Holding his hand today had cemented her feelings; it had felt so good to be here with him over the last month that she wanted to be with him in every sense of the word. And while she realized that the night before his treatment was probably not the best timing, she wanted him to know how she felt.

She walked up behind him and put her arms around his neck with her elbows resting on his shoulders. He brought his hand up and put them on her forearms, gently squeezing her arms and running his fingers softly over them. Their eyes connected in the mirror and she smiled at him, gently moving her cheek over the side of his newly shaved head. The love they had for each other shined out of their eyes and she knew this was the right decision.

"Booth?" she asked, her voice soft as to not break the moment.

"Yeah, Bones?" he responded.

"Take me to bed," she whispered in his ear, not losing the eye contact in the mirror with him. She saw the brief surprise cross his face before feeling him turn around to face her. His heads rested at her waist as she continued to have her arms on his shoulders.

"Are you sure, Bones? I mean, really sure? Because if we do this, it is for life, however much of it I have left. I won't give you up," he told her, staring into her beautiful blue eyes.

She leaned down and softly kissed his lips, intentionally keeping the kiss tame. She grabbed his hand the pulled him to his bedroom.

"Come on, Booth. Let's go break the laws of physics."


	4. Chapter 4: The Infusion Room

A/N: Thanks for the awesome feedback and sorry for the delay. Whoever said spring break was supposed to be relaxing was very wrong! Again, this chapter is based on my mom's most recent experience getting chemotherapy. There is very little dialogue in this chapter and I am curious what you guys think of it. Let me know and please leave a review!

Chapter 4: The Infusion Room

Booth and Brennan sat in the waiting room, Booth bouncing his leg up and down repetitively. Normally, Brennan would stick her hand out to stop this action but today she let it go, knowing that Booth needed to expel some nervous energy before going into the infusion room. They had checked in with the secretary about 10 minutes ago and were just waiting for the go ahead to proceed into the room to begin the two hour process of getting his chemotherapy. She looked over at her partner, best friend, and starting about twelve hours ago, her lover. He was dressed comfortably in a pair of sweats, a T-shirt with one of the quirky sayings he loved, and a light jacket. He had some of his most ostentatious socks on underneath his running shoes and Brennan didn't say anything about that either, knowing that they gave him a small measure of comfort on what was sure to be a traumatic day. On top of his head sat the Phillies hat that Parker had given him, his baldhead hiding underneath. To be honest, she was feeling anxious as well. While she knew that chemotherapy was the only treatment that had been successful at fighting cancer, she also knew that it was going to be very hard for him as he fought the terrible side effects. Rationally, Brennan knew that chemotherapy was aimed at fighting rapid growing and dividing cells in the body, effectively killing all of the cancerous cells. The problem, though, was that cancer was not the only rapidly dividing cell in the body and the chemotherapy was not sensitive enough to target cancer cells alone. The cells of the digestive tract and the intestines were also very dividing rapidly, leading to the nausea and vomiting as the medicine also attacked these cells. Hair loss was another side effect and during the five to six months of Booth's treatment, they would have to carefully monitor his blood count to make sure he was still producing enough white blood cells, which are the cells that fight against any infections inside the body. Brennan took a deep breath, closing her eyes briefly as she steeled herself against the rational part of her brain that wanted to compartmentalize and for once, tried to put her brain in park and her heart in overdrive, wanting to do everything possible to be the emotional support that Booth would need.

Booth sat next to Brennan on the bench in the waiting area, very grateful that she decided to take off work so she could be here with him today. Even though he knew that it was going to be boring and he had weakly insisted that she didn't have to come sit with him, he was very glad that she saw though his alpha-maleness and told him in no uncertain terms that she was coming with him. He knew that the bouncing of his foot probably annoyed her to no end but he couldn't help it. He kept restraining himself from running his hands through his hair, one of his other favorite anxiety reducers, remembering just before the motion that he didn't have any hair to run his fingers through. So, the leg bounced on. What was taking so long, he wondered? He knew that realistically they had probably only been in the waiting room for ten minutes or so but he was anxious to get this started. The way he saw it, the sooner he started this process, the sooner he could finish it and get on with his life. As he sat there with Brennan right next to him, he couldn't help but think about last night and how absolutely perfect it was. Not only was the lovemaking absolutely perfect but the devotion he saw in her eyes when he woke up this morning made him feel at peace for the first time in a long time, as if he had finally found exactly where he was supposed to be. It was a feeling he was trying to recapture right now, doing anything to calm his frayed nerves. She must have been sensing his thoughts because just then, she reached out and wrapped her hand around his without a second of hesitation. He instantly felt the soothing quality of her touch run through his body, making his muscles loosen up slightly. Without looking at her, he laced his fingers through hers, stabilizing his hold on her.

They both turned and looked up when they heard the sound of the door opening. A nurse poked her head out.

"Mr. Booth?" she asked. Upon seeing his head nod, she continued. "We are ready for you now."

Taking a deep breath, he stood on suddenly shaky legs and expected Brennan to release his hand. Surprisingly, she effortlessly picked up her bag with her other hand and kept a firm grasp on him. Locking their gazes once more, he drank in the strength and love he saw blatantly in her eyes and followed the nurse though the door.

Booth had been in this room before after the education about his treatments but for Brennan, it was her first time. Her low-heeled boots clicked against the wooden floor of the open room that had little stations set up around the perimeter for the patients. By Brennan's count, there were currently four other patients receiving treatment. One had drawn the curtain around their area but the other three were sitting in the comfortable chairs provided. One had a young person, maybe seventeen at the oldest, head bobbing to her headphones, one hand drawing, the other extended with the IV, a multicolored beanie covering her head. Another contained an older man, sitting and watching the television attached to the chair, seemingly with the weight of the world on his shoulders. And in the final open space sat a couple, the women resting with a blanket throw over her body, the only part exposed was her arm that was currently being used for the vein, and her other hand securely held by the hand of the partner as they both watched a movie on a portable DVD player. The sight of them took Brennan aback. She had seen people living in horrible conditions, having to fight genocide and live in squalor and poverty. But when she looked at the other patients in the room, all looking pale and skinny and sickly, she saw her partner staring back at her and the reality of what the next five months held for them came crashing around her. She looked at her strong partner and wondered if he would waste away before her eyes while she cared for him and tried to nurse him back to health. But whereas that thought before might have made her run in the opposite direction and add more mortar and brick to the wall around her heart, she found that now she was consciously walking closer to him as if trying to shield him from the harmful effects that the medication would have on his body. She assumed that this feeling came with loving him and giving herself to him as she did last night; the feeling of wanting to take the other person's pain away even if it meant enduring it yourself.

Booth on the other hand tried not to look around the room, focusing solely on the chair that the nurse was leading him to. He couldn't look at the other patients in the room and know that he was looking at his future. With the reality of his situation all around him, he again tried to recapture the feelings of warmth and contentment he felt last night and this morning, when the beautiful woman walking beside him made him feel protected and safe and loved. He clung onto the last feeling with all of his strength as the nurse motioned for him to sit down.

"Go ahead and make yourself comfortable, Mr. Booth. I will be back in a minute to start your IV and to hang the first medication," she told him, giving him a kind and tolerant smile. After giving Brennan a quick nod as well, she disappeared behind the desk that took up the opposite wall and starting gathering her supplies.

Booth looked down at the chair, which looked like a combination of a Lazy Boy recliner and one of the chairs at the dentist's office. To the side there was a small chair set up for Brennan, who squeezed his hand gently before releasing it and sitting down in the chair next to him. She waited patiently for Booth to take a seat, which he did after about a minute of staring it down. She could see that he was mentally preparing himself for a fight and briefly wondered if that same look of brave determination crossed his face when he was in the military, fighting an enemy then as well. Once he sat down, Brennan helped him remove his jacket and took his right hand, leaving his left arm for the nurse to start the IV to begin his treatment. Since they had resected the cervical lymph nodes on his right side, his treatments would have to be done on his left so there was no risk of swelling from fluid overload. Seeing the anxiety plainly written on his face, she looked to see if the nurse was coming back. Seeing that she still had about a minute, she got off the chair and climbed into his lap, placing both of her hands on the sides of his face. She used her thumbs to softly rub against his prominent zygomatic arches and smiled at him softly when she felt his hands wrap around her as she sat sideways in his lap. She leaned forward and tipped the bill of his hat back slightly before giving him a soft, loving kiss on his lips. Pulling back, she kept her hands in place and said plainly but with absolute conviction, "I love you."

She felt some of the tension drain from him as his hands tighten their hold on her. "I love you," he said back, stealing another kiss before they heard the nurses' footsteps behind them.

From that point, Booth didn't hear a lot, his swirling thoughts drowning out the noise around him. He reached for Brennan's hand after she resumed her spot in the chair at his side and was glad when she gave it freely. Never a big fan of needles, Booth turned and looked into his partner's eyes when he distantly heard the nurse say she was going to start the IV. Her crystal blue depths comforted him, like he was staring out into a vast blue ocean that held all of his hopes and dreams. He felt the needle pierce his skin and winced slightly when he felt the nurse moving it around beneath his skin, manipulating it so it could get into his vein. The pressure on his hand increased during this time and he squeezed back, silently letting her know that he was okay. After a moment, the twisting stopped and he felt cool liquid flowing into his vein as the nurse verified the IVs placement. He turned his head to watch as she hung the clear medication to the IV pole and heard the beeping to the machine as she inputted the rate at which the chemotherapy was to flow into his body. Apparently done to her satisfaction, the nurse stepped back and asked if they wanted the curtain pulled. Booth shook his head in the negative and the nurse told them she would be back in an hour to change the bag and went back to the nurses' station. Booth could feel the coolness of the medication sliding into his veins and his mouth tasted of something metallic, all of his senses seemingly in tune with the chemotherapy and producing their own reactions. He finally looked out into the room now, seeing the other patients, his fellow cancer patients. Brennan, never letting go of his hand, pulled out his iPod, handed it to him and then pulled out an anthropology journal for herself, instinctively knowing that he wouldn't want to talk right now, just silently offering her support through the holding of his hand.

Feeling pretty proud of himself after successfully putting his earphones in one handed, he continued his silent observation of the room. The older man and the teen were off in their own worlds but when his gaze rested on the woman, he was surprised to find her looking back at him, not at the screen that her husband was currently engaged in. Their eyes connected for a moment and she gave him a tight smile and a nod, as if trying to reassure him from across the room. Booth also had the feeling that the woman was also welcoming him into the club they now both belonged and instead of feeling angry or mad, he felt reassured that at least someone else knew what he was going through. He gave her a nod back of thanks and she turned and leaned back into her husband to watch the movie. Booth leaned his head back against the chair and as "Hot Blooded" flooded his ears, he increased his grip on Brennan's hand as he fell into a dreamless sleep.


	5. Chapter 5: The Treatment is Worse Part 1

A/N: Thanks for the feedback on the last chapter. I really appreciate the feedback. This next chapter starts out pretty angsty but then there is some levity at the end with a situation that I have been thinking about how straight-laced Booth would have responded. It will be broken up in three parts that will be posted over the next three days. Let me know what you think. Thanks!

Chapter 5: The Treatment is Worse than the Disease-Part 1

Week 1 after treatment

Booth leaned back against the outside wall of his bathtub, having just vomited the Sprite he had tried to drink about 20 minutes ago. This had become the spot where he spent the most time over the last couple of days ever since his chemotherapy treatment.

After the treatment was over, he was surprised at how exhausted he was, how deeply the fatigue had set into this body and he hadn't even done anything. He had to put his arm around Brennan's shoulder to steady himself as they walked out of the infusion room after the two hours it took for the treatment to be over. He didn't even have the energy to make a quip about Brennan driving as they drove back to his apartment. When they got back, Brennan convinced him to stay up with her a little longer and watch a movie so his sleep cycle was not too disturbed.

It wasn't until the next day that his stomach revolted against him.

That was four days ago and since then, he had not kept anything down and according to the scale, had already lost 13 pounds. While Dr. Liao had warned him that he would be experiencing the worst side effects of the chemotherapy in the week immediately after his chemotherapy, he had not been prepared for how completely crappy he felt. The chemotherapy was wreaking havoc with his body. Not only could he not keep anything down, but he also had pretty bad diarrhea, so it was coming out on both ends. The fatigue he felt was bone deep and while he was talking about his bones, he felt a constant pain there as well as the chemotherapy attacked his bone marrow, one of the other rapidly dividing cells in his body currently under siege. He just hoped that the cancer cells currently circulating throughout his body were being equally affected by the treatment.

Not only was the chemotherapy affecting his body, but also the drugs he was taking for the pain and nausea made him feel like he was in a fog. All he wanted to do was sleep and he had taken more naps in the past couple of days than he had in the previous 10 years. While the pain medication helped a little but he didn't know why he was still taking the nausea medication. It obviously wasn't helping.

Another thing he noticed was that his baldhead remained that way, with not one hair growing back. He was Italian and was used to having thick hair and a lot of it. But he noticed that not only did his normally fast growing hair not grow back, his arm and leg hair were also thinner than they were before. Seeing his leg and arm hair in the shower drain made him happy that he decided to shave his head before the treatment; one less thing to clean up. He ran his hands over his head and the startling thing about not having any hair was he could feel the scar on the back of his head from where they had taken out the tumor that had started this whole thing. Booth sighed as he sat back against the tub and closed his eyes, trying to stop the world from spinning unnecessarily. Just another chunk of heaven. And he had to do it five more times.

He heard the door to the bathroom open and felt her come and sit down next to him. He didn't know what he would do without her silent support. Every time he woke up during the night and needed his pain medication, she was there with the pills and a glass of water. When he didn't make it to the bathroom, she was there to reassure him and help him clean up. And when he was exhausted, she sat in the corner of the room and silently worked on her book, the striking of the keys lulling him into sleep.

"How are you feeling, Booth?" she asked as he felt her hand on her arm and her nails comfortably moving back and forth against his forearm. He was thankful for her touch; it grounded him in a world that was currently spinning uncomfortably around him.

He turned to look at her and saw the exhaustion in her face as well. He knew that it wasn't easy for her to watch him be so sick but she never turned from him and was very attentive to all his needs. During the night, every four hours like clockwork, she woke him up so he could take his steroid and pain medication and before she went to work in the morning, she laid out all the pills he would need during the day. She even called him multiple times during the day, subtly reminding him to take his medication but he knew she was also calling to check up on him. Luckily, today was Saturday and she did not go into the office today, giving him more tender loving care than he had received in a while.

Not yet feeling up to opening his eyes, he answered her, vaguely. "As well as to be expected, I guess."

He did not want to appear weaker in front of her than he already had. Even though it was ridiculous, he still wanted to be her Knight in FBI Standard Issue Body Armor and he knew he was not up to that challenge right now, sitting in the same sweats and Steelers T-shirt he had been in for two days.

She didn't say anything, just continued to stroke his arm. He leaned over and placed his head on her shoulder, grateful to lean against something that was alive and had warmth instead of the side of the cold bathtub. He felt her kiss the top of his baldhead, her lips lingering there for a moment, reassuring him of her love for him. He honestly didn't know if he would make it through this without her constant, unwavering support.

Even the Squints had been supportive. Yesterday when he didn't answer her phone call, Brennan sent Angela over to sit with him until she was able to come home. She brought a movie with her and some awesome green tea, which was the only thing he had been able to keep down in four days. Hodgins had also pitched in and bought him a huge plasma screen TV for him to watch while he was home bound for a while. And while he wanted to object on principle, once he saw it in action, he decided that being grateful and accepting the gift was most definitely the best course of action.

"Do you feel up to going to sit on the couch?" she asked him, her words muffled as she still had them against the top of his head.

He nodded. At his nod, he felt her get up and move to stand in front of him, offering her hand to help him up. He finally opened his eyes and let the world stop spinning. Reaching up to grasp her hand, he was surprised to find that she could pull him up with little effort.

After standing, the world began spinning again and he was afraid he would have make a lung for the toilet. But he felt her rush to his side and pull his arm over her shoulder, steadying him against the dizziness that threatened to take over.

Slowly, they made their way to the couch. She sat down on the far end and helped him lay down on his back with his head in her lap. He grimaced as he noticed the strategically placed bowl at the foot of the couch, there just in case he couldn't make it to the bathroom in time. After a few moments of her softly stroking her hand over his forehead, the comforting motion almost lulled him into sleep.

"Do you want to watch your horses?" she asked. His forehead wrinkled on confusion as he opened his eyes to look at her. The earnest look in her eyes took him by surprise.

"What horses, Bones?" he asked.

"The baseball team. The one on the hat that Parker got you," she answered. It took him a minute to put the pieces together but once he did, he couldn't help the smile that graced his face.

"You mean the Phillies? The Philadelphia Phillies baseball team?" he clarified. She made the "pinchy" face he loved.

"Isn't that what I said?" she asked.

"Sure, Bones. Why don't you turn on the game," he said, shifting to lie on his side, turning his head in her lap.

As the game progressed, she stayed with him the whole time, only getting up to get him his medication. He fell asleep on the couch during the eighth inning, the nausea currently at bay and hopeful that next week would be better than this one.


	6. Chapter 5: The Treatment is Worse Part 2

Chapter 5: The Treatment is Worse Than the Disease Part 2

Week 2 after treatment

Brennan was focused completely on the set of results on her computer screen, or at least that is how it would look to an outside observer. In reality, her mind was far from work and in the apartment of the man she loved.

Last week had been an absolute nightmare. Booth was sick the entire week and ended up losing sixteen pounds in just eight days. She had never seen anyone so sick before and knew that during his next doctor's appointment they would have to see of they could get him some more medication that might actually work this time.

But now, ten days after treatment, he was doing a lot better. He hadn't thrown up in a couple of days and was starting to eat again. Brennan kept getting him milkshakes and pie from the diner; even though it was not the healthiest thing she knew he needed to gain back as much weight as possible before his next treatment. Booth certainly didn't seem to mind though and she loved the look on his face as he was enjoying the treats. He looked exactly like Parker on Christmas morning in these moments.

Even though Booth was feeling better this week, he was confined to the apartment. this was the week when his white blood cell count would be the lowest and he couldn't be around other people at the risk of getting an infection that his weakened immune system could not fight off. Even at the lab, she had to be very careful to avoid anyone that might be sick so that when she went home at night, she didn't get him sick as well. She smiled to herself as she thought about going home. She hadn't realized how nice it was to go home to someone, and even though that someone was currently very sick, she was looking forward to the time when he wouldn't be and they could live the lives of people in love.

Hearing her door open, she looked over to see Angela walk in to her office. Everyone at the office had been very supportive and it was nice to have their support during the day when she felt guilty for leaving Booth at home by himself.

"How are you doing, Sweetie?" she asked.

"I'm fine, Ange. Just trying to get some work done," she said as she pointed to her computer screen, which had unfortunately gone to screensaver while she was thinking. She looked guiltily back at Angela, knowing she had been caught.

"It's obvious you aren't working, Bren. What is going on? Is Booth doing okay?" Ange asked her as she sat down in one of the chairs in front of her desk.

Brennan let out a sigh, thinking how much she wanted to tell her friend. While she felt that talking about everything that was going on with her and Booth would help her, she also didn't know how much Booth would want her to say. He was a very proud man and she had a feeling that he would want to her to keep his struggles secret.

"It's going okay, Ange," she started hesitantly but sopped at Ange's disapproving look.

"Sweetie, don't you dare start lying to me. We have been friends for too long. I know Booth doesn't want everyone to know all the gory details and frankly, I don't want to know them. I was there last week; I saw how weak he was. I asked about you first and then Booth so I want the answer in that order as well," she finished.

Brennan smiled at her friend, wondering how she could ever doubt that she would know exactly the right thing to say. So, remembering her friend's advice, she answered honestly.

"I'm tired, Ange," Brennan told her. "But even though I am feeling emotionally and physically exhausted, there is no where else I would rather be. It's a humbling experience to care for someone like that, when they are at their weakest and most vulnerable. I have been trying to rationalize it but I think I have finally put my brain in park and my heart in overdrive, as Booth says."

She paused for a moment before continuing. "I'm scared too, Ange. He was so weak after this treatment and he has five more to go. It has been a lot better over the last several days; he is actually eating and even manages to lift some weights in the morning but he is so tired all the time. Always taking naps, which is good for him but I know he is frustrated that he can't do more. I just want to tell him to be grateful that there is a treatment for his condition. You know, I could handle losing my parents and my brother but if I ever lost Booth…" she trailed off, not able to finish her sentence. She looked up to see Angela's sympathetic stare.

Wiping the lone tear that made it's way down he face, she continued. "And I know he is really upset that he can't see Parker. He had his first All-Star game for baseball last weekend and Booth was really disappointed that he couldn't go. I just don't know how I can help him."

Brennan stopped after this, hoping that she did not say too much. She looked across her desk to see that her friend was deep in thought, which usually meant that she was planning something extremely genius or extremely devious. It worried her that she couldn't tell which look this was.

"When is Parker's next game?" Angela asked, the mischievous look in her eye returning. Brennan quickly glanced at her calendar. She noted that he had a tournament that started tomorrow.

"It is tomorrow evening. Why?" Brennan asked. "Oh, nothing, sweetie. Just leave that part to me."

********

When she got home from work the next evening, she had strict instructions from Angela to make sure that Booth would be parked on the couch when Parker's game started. What she wasn't expecting though, was the smell when she walked in the house.

She walked over to the kitchen to see Booth, wearing a pair of jeans that used to fit him but now were on the baggy side, a pair of very colorful socks, an old T-shirt, and the Phillies hat that Parker got him. He was spooning a generous amount of Indian food onto two plates.

"Booth?" she questioned as she walked into the kitchen.

"Bones! You're home!" he exclaimed, coming over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her to him for a deep, passionate kiss. Brennan responded in kind, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him down to her as his teeth gently nipped at her lips, requesting access. She gave it to him happily; they had not shared a kiss like this since the night before his chemotherapy. After a moment, her mind finally let her know that she had a schedule to keep tonight. She pulled back reluctantly but kept her arms around his neck.

"Booth, what is that?" she asked, looking toward the take-out containers on the kitchen counter.

"It's Indian food, Bones," he replied, as if it was the easiest question in the world.

She hit him lightly in the shoulder. "I can see that Booth. But you hate Indian food."

He shrugged and stepped out of her embrace to place the food on the table. "Well, the nurse said that my taste preferences would likely change with the treatment and that I should eat whatever smelled good. I was watching TV earlier today and a commercial came on for Indian food and I just had this intense craving. So, I ordered some. And it smells great!" he exclaimed.

Brennan just smiled at him, excited to see so much life in him for the first time in 10 days. Right as he put the plates on the table though, she picked them up and placed them on the coffee table in front of the couch. She looked over her shoulder to see him following her, a confused look on his face. Not able to help herself she placed her hand gently on his chest and gave him another kiss. Once they broke the kiss, she just kept smiling at him.

"What's going on Bones?" he asked. "Why are we eating in front of the couch?"

"You'll see," she replied cryptically. She gently pushed him down on the couch and went to go set up the video camera that Angela gave her on top of the TV and pulled it into the side of the plasma screen that Hodgins had purchased for them. That done, she went and sat down next to him and began to eat the vegan Indian food he had got her.

"So how was your day?" she asked him after a brief silence.

"It was okay," he said. "But I'm kind of going stir crazy. I just really wan to get out of this apartment but know that I am stuck here for another 3 days," he finished with a sigh as he avoided her gaze. While this saddened her slightly, she was glad that he was feeling cooped up. To her, that meant that he was finally getting some of his old energy back.

They ate in silence for the next several minutes, Brennan anxiously watching the clock. When it was the right time, she quickly got up off the couch and turned the TV and the video camera on, making sure the TV was set to the right channel.

"What's going on, Bones?" he asked. Right as he asked that question, a smiling face appeared on the screen, his mop of blonde curls hidden underneath his green baseball hat.

"Angela, I can see him!" the little voice shouted. "Hi Daddy! It's me, Parker!" the little boy shouted as he waved at the camera.

Brennan looked over to Booth to see him sitting on the couch in shock, his jaw slack and the sheen of tears in his eyes. She went and sat down next to him and put her hand on his thigh, squeezing slightly.

"Say hello to your son, Booth," she whispered to him. That seemed to jolt him out of his stupor.

"Hey, Parks! Are you at your All-Star game?" he said.

He head nodded furiously. "Yeah, Dad. I'm the starting pitcher today and everything! Angela and Hodgins are here to tape it so you can watch me even though you have the cancer. Isn't that cool, Dad! It's like you are really here."

Booth nodded at him. "That's great, Bub. I can't wait to watch you play."

Parker soon ran back to his team and the game started. Booth was enthralled by the game, never taking his eyes off the screen. At every half-inning, Parker would come over to the camera and Booth would offer him encouragement and advice. The entire time, he held her hand tightly, sometimes squeezing harder when Parker did something good.

After the game was over and father and son said their goodbyes, Booth pulled her into a hug so tight that she had problems breathing. She returned the hug with equal force and heard him whisper over and over again, "Thank you, I love you so much."

And she wasn't so scared anymore.


	7. Chapter 5: The Treatment is Worse Part 3

A/N: Thanks for the feedback on the previous 2 parts! This is the last part of chapter 5. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Chapter 5: The Treatment is Worse Than the Disease-Part 3

Week 3 after treatment

Today was the twentieth day after his first treatment and Booth felt great. The last couple days, he was able to go outside and he never thought something as simple as feeling the sun on his skin would feel so good. And although Brennan made him put on obscene amounts of sunscreen and pants even though it was summer, he didn't care. He didn't even care that his hat did not exactly cover up the fact that all his hair was gone and people stared at him as he and Brennan walked hand in hand down the National Mall.

Yesterday, he had even gotten to see Parker after Brennan took him to get his blood drawn. Spending the afternoon with his son at the park, throwing the football around, gave him the sense of normalcy that he needed before his next treatment. It also reminded him what he was fighting so hard for.

As he woke up this morning, he felt warmer than a D.C. summer should have made him feel. Worried that he had a fever, he sat up and disturbed the actual reason why he was so warm. He couldn't help but smile at the unhappy grunt that she made when he pulled his arm out from underneath her and she fell back on the bed. They had been spooned together on the bed before he woke up and now she was turned slightly on her stomach with her face being buried in the pillow with the crease between her eyes the visible sign of her discontent. Booth thought she never looked more adorable.

Hoping to wipe that look off of her face, he settled himself over her, holding his weight above her on his forearms, bending down to kiss her forehead, her check, and finally her lips. Only on the last one did she wake up, returning the kiss with equal fervor and sliding her arms up around his neck to softly stroke the back of his head as their tongues lazily twisted together. Another benefit of having more energy was that two days ago, they had made love for the first time since the night before his treatment.

They only stopped when oxygen became a necessity and their foreheads rested together as they broke apart, their bodies still wound around each other.

"Good morning," he told her with a smile.

"Good morning to you too," she returned, reaching her head up to give him another soft, short kiss. "We have to get up; your appointment is at 9 this morning."

Booth pouted. "Can't we just stay here all day?"

She stroked the back of his neck once more before slipping out from underneath him and walked toward the bathroom. "No, Booth. Come on, we have to go to your appointment."

Groaning, Booth buried his face in her pillow, inhaling her scent before getting up and ready to face the day.

*******

Once they arrived at Dr. Liao's office, the nurse took Booth to be weighed and he was relieved to find that he had only lost 3 pounds since his last treatment, meaning he had managed to gain 13 pounds back of the 16 he had originally lost. The nurse then led him to the room, took his vital signs, and told them to wait a moment until Dr. Liao would be in to see them. Booth nodded gratefully at her and then perched himself on the edge of the examination table and grimaced as the waxy paper he sat on crinkled.

It wasn't long before Dr. Liao came into the room.

"Mr. Booth, Dr. Brennan, I'm glad you could make it today," he started. Booth nodded at him as the doctor took a seat on the little black stools that were always in exam rooms. Booth couldn't wait for the appointment to be over. He hated all the questions and the poking and feeling like a lab animal. He sighed though as he knew this would be his reality for the next four months. But he took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, reminding himself that he had done it once, he could do it five more times. At least now, he knew what to expect.

"So, Mr. Booth, how are you feeling?" Dr. Liao said as he got up to look at the scar he had on his neck and head. Booth took his hat off to assist him.

"I've been doing okay," Booth started but at Brennan's glare, he continued. "Well, the first week was pretty rough," he admitted.

Dr. Liao nodded and moved away from him, apparently satisfied with the condition of his scars. "I noticed here that you lost 3 pounds since your last treatment."

Booth was content to stay quiet and let him think that was what really happened but Brennan decided that was not the way to go.

"Actually, Dr. Liao, he lost 16 pounds and has spent the last two weeks gaining 13 pounds of it back."

"Bones!" Booth hissed from the table.

"What, Booth? Do you want to feel how bad you did the last time or do you want him to know exactly how bad it was so he can give you some medication to help this time?" Brennan asked him, pinning him with another glare.

Booth sighed and looked at Dr. Liao, knowing that Brennan was right but hating to admit weakness. "It was really bad, doc. I threw up and diarrhea for about six days straight and the only thing I could keep down was this crazy green tea Angela brought me."

He saw Dr. Liao smirk. "That's because it probably contained cannabis, Mr. Booth," he stated calmly, going back to his prescription pad, missing the horrified look on Booth's face.

"You mean, like, marijuana?" Booth questioned, seeing the nod of confirmation from both Brennan and Dr. Liao. "But, but, that's illegal! I'm an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation! I cannot be consuming marijuana!" he cried out, stunned at why they were not taking this more seriously.

"Mr. Booth, it is nothing to worry about. I am actually prescribing some to you, in pill form, to help with the nausea. Medical marijuana is very effective, Mr. Booth. It should drastically reduce your urge to vomit and make the first week after treatment much more tolerable."

Still seeing that Booth was not quite okay with this yet, he continued. "Mr. Booth, remember when we talked about how this is a marathon, not a sprint? You have five more treatments left and you can't be losing 16 pounds every time and remain healthy. You need to be in the best physical and mental shape you can be in before starting each new round of treatment and you can't do that of you can't keep anything down for six days out of twenty-one. I urge you to give this a try this time and if it doesn't work, then we re-evaluate. But this has worked for many of my other patients and I think it will work for you too."

Booth considered his words. While still not happy about it, he would do anything to decrease the nausea he felt last time. It literally felt the world was spinning for the whole six days and he could not get the bile taste out of his mouth.

Then he looked at Brennan and remembered how tired and anxious she looked when he was constantly puking his guts out. He knew that she didn't get any sleep during that time and he realized then that he would do anything to keep that look from her face. He nodded reluctantly at Dr. Liao.

"Good," Dr. Liao said. "Your blood work that we had drawn yesterday looks great so a couple more things and you'll be on your way."

*******

As Booth walked out of the outpatient center and toward the parking garage, he felt Brennan hook her arm through his and he leaned down to place a small kiss against her head.

"So the instructions say to keep the cannabis in the refrigerator. Should we keep it next to the beer in case we want a really good time?" she asked.

He looked at her, about to rebuff her statement when he noticed the mischievous smile on her face.

"Really cute, Bones. I'm glad you've picked this of all times to develop a sense of humor," he grumbled as her laughter followed them to the car.


	8. Chapter 6: The Progress

A/N: I apologize for the lack of updates in this story. My muse ran away. But the good news is that my mom completed her chemotherapy treatments! She is now moving onto radiation but at least the first part over. Thanks for all the reviews expressing your concern for her. I let her read them and she was very touched. Thanks again and I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 6

"Bones, could you run back in the house and grab another couple of sodas, please?" Booth yelled from his post in front of the barbecue in Hodgins' backyard. It was Labor Day; the official end of summer and the squint squad was having a small get together to celebrate. Hodgins had a beautiful backyard and to Parker's delight, a big swimming pool. Booth desperately wanted to get in with his son and a couple of the squinterns but because he was only in the beginning of the third week after his fourth chemotherapy treatment, his doctor advised him that while he could attend the small party, provided nobody there was sick, going in the pool was pushing it a little too much. Booth didn't really mind though; he was appointed grill-master for the afternoon and enjoyed the warm sun on his skin. Not on his head of course, that was still covered with the now worn Phillies hat that Parker gave him at the beginning of his treatment.

Even though the last four months had been hard, with the continuous chemotherapy and the adverse reactions that the drugs caused, he still had some moments of happiness during that time. He was able to see his son hit his first home run in an All-Star game, play dominos with Pops, see Jared off to India, and spend a lot of time with his Bones. While he knew that starting a relationship under these circumstances could have been dangerous with anyone else, his disease had just brought out what was already so close to the surface. Without her tender loving care and support over the last four months, he was sure that he would have been mentally and physically drained. Instead, while he was tired of getting sick every three weeks, having a constant metallic taste in his mouth that made him not want to eat anything, and having all of his clothes hang loosely on his thinner frame, he loved the fact that he and Bones were together.

Turning his attention back to the meat on the grill, he flipped the burgers and turned the hot dogs, taking his duties very seriously. He heard the water splash over the side of the cooler that was by the grill and assumed Bones was putting the sodas inside. Cold hands were placed upon the back of his neck and he jumped at the feel, turning around to see Bones with a mischievous smile on her face.

"Bones! You are so going to get it," he yelled at her, taking a cup of ice water that was sitting on the table and chasing after her when she started running away from him, forgetting the grill for the moment.

Tempe ran away from him, knowing that even though he had been so sick, she could not outrun him. But it was beautiful outside, her second family surrounded her, and she was feeling playful, wanting to forget about the disease and cancer for a few moments. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that he was gaining on her, and tired to begin some evasive maneuvers that ended up being in vain as she felt the water splash over her head and ran down her back. She stopped suddenly, the temperature of the water shocking her and he ran right into her, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind to steady them both.

"Gotcha," he whispered into her ear, not letting go of her.

She smiled and turned in his arms, looping her arms around his neck, and standing up on her toes to give him a kiss. He had tried to pull back after a minute but she kept a firm hold of him, slipping her tongue in his mouth and deepening the kiss. She took one hand and titled his hat back so she could deepen the kiss further.

"You two both know there are children around right now, right? I mean, Nigel-Murray should not have to be exposed to that before he is ready," they heard Hodgins joke. Breaking apart reluctantly, she blushed while Booth just gave him a cocky grin.

"Booth!" she remarked when she saw the grin and playfully swatted him on the chest, walking toward the pool again to sit with Angela on one of the lounge chairs.

"Nice, dude," Hodgins told him when Bones was out of earshot. Booth just laughed. It felt good to be normal again, even if it was just for a week or two between his treatments. "Hey man, why don't you drag that kid of yours out of the pool and I'll try to get Wendell, Sweets, and Vincent to throw the football around."

Booth's face lit up at the thought of playing around with his son, something that he had only been able to go a couple of times during the summer, recovering faster after each chemotherapy treatment. This last time, he had only felt really, really sick for five days after the treatment which was a great improvement on the week and a half he had been really sick the first time around.

"Hey Parks," Booth shouted out as he reached the pool. His son whipped around from where he had been trying to go handstands at the shallow end. "Come on, bub. Let's go throw the football around."

Brennan watched as Parker excitedly hopped out of the pool and put his shoes on, not bothering with a shirt. She looked over to see Booth with a smile on his face as his son started to chase him around the large grass yard that Hodgins had behind his pool. Sweets, Mr. Bray and Mr. Nigel-Murray joined Hodgins, Booth, and Parker on the grass and she could hear Parker's happy squeals as the boys started tossing around the ball. She was about to lay back and close her eyes when she saw Booth run back over to her.

"Can you check the grill for me in about ten minutes? Thanks!" he said as he leaned down to kiss her, not waiting for a response as he ran back over to the boys.

"Sweetie, that was adorable," Angela said, lying on the lunge chair beside her. "How is everything going?"

"We are taking it day by, Ange, not taking anything for granted." She paused for a moment, wondering how much she should say. She knew she could talk to Angela but she also knew that Booth hated anyone to think he was weak. In the end though, she felt like she needed to say something to get some feelings off of her chest.

"It's hard to see him so sick, Ange. After the chemotherapy, he is nauseous all the time and can't even roll over without wanting to throw up. He doesn't eat as much as he used to because he says food doesn't taste good and its like I can see him wasting away before my eyes. I feel like I have aged four years in the last four months. But I will be there with him as long as he needs me. I will give him as much support as I can because I love him and I can't imagine losing him. So, if he needs me to get through this treatment, I will be there, every step of the way. But I'm scared Ange. I know realistically that he will go into remission after this treatment but I know with this type of cancer and with the amount it had already spread, there is a chance that it will come back. I am afraid that this will never really be over."

She breathed in after her statement, feeling much better now that she had told someone her fears. Obviously, she didn't want to tell Booth any of this because she didn't want to add any more emotional baggage to what he was currently feeling. It wasn't until a month ago that he asked her for money to cover some of his living expenses since he wasn't working. Luckily, the health insurance he got from the FBI was very, very good and covered all of his treatments but since he was not getting a salary, he was going to fall behind on his rent. Her heart broke when he asked; he wouldn't even look her in the eyes he felt so ashamed. Of course it wasn't a problem and she was happy to help him, after all she had more money than she knew what to do with.

"Bren, I am so proud of you," Angela said. Brennan looked over at her, wondering what Angela was talking about. "I'm seriously, Bren. A few years ago, you wouldn't have opened up to Booth like you are right now. You are that man's rock right now and he is out there playing with his son because of it. And I'm not going to lie to you; his cancer may come back sometime in the future but what is important is that you are here with him now. I am so glad that you have finally caught up with your own reality, even though it was a tragedy that caused it in the first place."

Brennan didn't know how to respond to Angela's praise, still slightly awkward in the face of the emotional issues surrounding her emotional commitment to Booth.

"I am going to check on Booth's meat," she said, getting up and hurrying to the grill. Angela just shook her head and smiled at her friend.

Walking over to the grill, she was curious as to why Booth put a known vegetarian in charge of cooking the meat for the party. She called out to him once she saw the condition of the meat on the grill.

"Uh, Booth?"

He heard Bones call for him and ran over to where she was standing after throwing the ball to Hodgins before going to check on her.

"Is the meat supposed to be smoking like that?"

"Bones!" he said as he took the beer that was on the side of the grill and poured it over half of the food, putting out the smoke. He surveyed the food and said, "Well, I guess everything is just going to very well done."

Brennan leaned up and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Don't worry, Booth. We still have plenty of veggie burgers." She laughed at his look and didn't stop until she had rejoined Angela on the lounge chairs. Curious, Angela turned around and at seeing the pout on Booth's face, started laughing too, deepening Booth's frown at the ruined meat on the grill.

Three days later, Booth felt miserable. He was running a fever and felt nauseous, not bothering to get out of bed even though it was already 1 pm. He was still in his pajamas and lying back against the pillows. Bones had set him up with water on the bedside table and a trashcan at the side of the bed just in case he couldn't make it to the bathroom before she went to work this morning. She wanted him to go to the hospital once she found out he had a fever but he told her no in no uncertain terms. His appointment with Dr. Liao for his next round of chemotherapy was tomorrow so he just wanted to spend the day at home. She hesitantly agreed but told him that she would be home earlier than normal. The television that had been moved into the bedroom was on but Booth had no idea what was on, some replay of an old hockey game.

What was worse is that he couldn't decide if he was hot or cold. He had a beanie on the top of his head because if it was off, he was going to be cold but he kicked the sheets off of his legs after the lower half of his body said told him he was hot.

And he was angry. This was the time that he was supposed to be feeling good! Next week he was going to be sick all week after the scheduled chemotherapy and he did not want to be sick when he wasn't supposed to be. Punching his pillow in frustration, he rolled over and closed his eyes, trying to lock out the nausea and get some sleep.

Meanwhile, at the lab, Brennan wasn't getting anything done. All she could think about was the sick partner she had left at home. When he rolled over towards her last night, she was shocked to feel the heat radiating off of him. He was shaking with the chills from the fever and she instantly wanted to take him to the hospital. He convinced her not to but now she was not certain of her decision.

"Dr. Brennan," Cam said as she entered her office. "Not only are you not getting anything done today but you also are distracting Angela and Hodgins because they are just watching you instead of getting any work done. So, as your boss, I am ordering you to go home. Go take care of him."

For a brief moment, she considered resisting before realizing that Cam was right. She looked down to see the same file open on her desk that was there this morning when she came in. Sighing, she gathered her things and walked past Cam on the way out, not bothering to thank her. Cam chuckled at her behavior, not in the least offended by the sometimes socially awkward scientist.

Brennan broke every speed limit on the way home, prepared to drop Booth's name if she got pulled over. She couldn't help but run through every worst-case scenario and her anxiety increased with each passing minute. With her stomach in knots and her heart rate twice it's normal; she parked her car and ran up the stairs to the apartment.

The apartment was silent when she entered and she ran back to the bedroom, worried that he had become unconscious or had a seizure from the fever that he had. Granted, it had been a low-grade fever but it could have spiked without him knowing.

Entering the bedroom, she saw him sprawled out on the bed, his beanie still on his head but the sheets kicked off his body. Quietly walking toward the bed, she gently took the beanie off of his head and pressed her lips to his forehead to judge the temperature. Her stomach un-knotted as she realized his fever had broke and not only was his temperature down, but the beanie in her hand was soaked with sweat.

"Hey, Bones," she heard him say quietly as she felt his eyelashes flutter against her jaw as he woke up.

"How are you feeling, hon?" she whispered to him, not realizing that the term of endearment slipped out. Booth caught it though, and it automatically made him feel better. Well that, and the fact that she was currently running her hand over his baldhead, lightly brushing it with her fingernails.

"Better," he croaked out, not recognizing his own voice. "I'm glad you are here though," he said as he picked his head up and laid it down on the thigh that was resting on the bed where she sat. She smiled slightly at the movement, continuing to stroke his head.

"Move for a minute, Booth," she told him as she got up on the bed and settled in, bringing his head back to her lap. He sighed against her abdomen and she turned the television to the Discovery channel, listening to his soft snores as he fell back to sleep.


	9. Chapter 7: The Set Back

A/N: Hello again! Real life has been so crazy but I have this and two other updates that will be posted next week in this story. Just a little tease for the next chapter: we will look more at Brennan's stress level in being the caregiver. Stay tuned! Now onto the story. When we left off, Booth had gotten sick right before his fifth treatment. This situation really happened with my mom so that is where I took the inspiration. Hope you enjoy and please leave me a review!

Chapter 7: The Set Back

The sterile smell of the doctor's office made Booth close his eyes and lean his head back against the wall, trying to rein in the remaining nausea from his sickness that had been plaguing him for the last several days. Today was his scheduled appointment with Dr. Liao that he had every three weeks before his chemotherapy to evaluate his progress. The appointment was always preceded by a blood draw so the doctor can monitor the blood levels to make sure he was responding to the treatment okay. After the nurse took his weight and vital signs (Booth ignored her as she frowned at his temperature), he was ready to get in the exam room and get this appointment over with.

Even though his fever had broken yesterday, Brennan still thought he felt warm to the touch and he still looked extremely pale. She noted that he was still wearing the same clothes he had been living in for the last several days, only trading the beanie out for his normal Phillies baseball hat. Sitting down in the chair next to his, she put a comforting hand on his sweat pant's covered thigh near his knee to comfort him.

Brennan was nervous about the appointment today. She knew that his sickness could be a set back in the treatment plan and she knew that would devastate Booth. He was so close to being done with this part of his treatment and Brennan knew the emotional toll of the constant fatigue and sickness was starting to wear on the both of them. And while Brennan wanted him to be done with the chemotherapy as much as he did, she also knew the importance of making sure that his blood levels were just right before entering into another round of the treatment.

A harsh knock on the door broke them both out of their thoughts and Booth muttered a "yeah" as Dr. Liao walked into the examination room.

"Booth, Dr. Brennan, how are we doing today?" Dr. Liao asked, not looking up just yet from the notes he was carrying. Brennan was about to reply but Booth beat her to it.

"I feel like shit, doc," he said, still not opening his eyes or picking his head up from where it rested against the wall. Brennan's head snapped to look at him in surprise at his blunt admission. This was the same man who had been down playing his symptoms for the last four months.

"I can see that in your blood results," Dr. Liao replied. If he was surprised by Booth's statement, he didn't show it. "You have an elevated white blood cell count, well elevated for someone receiving chemotherapy and your platelets are low. That indicates to me that you had some sort of infection. Why don't you tell me about how the last couple of days have been?"

Booth snorted before opening his eyes to look at the doctor, covering the hand Bones had on his thigh with one of his own.

"For the past 4 days everything I have tried to eat or drink has come right back up in a hurry, I can't sleep because even when I close my eyes the world is still spinning, and I can't decide whether I am hot or cold. I am usually both that the same time. I pretty much feel like I got two chemo treatments in a row with the way my body is aching all the time."

Booth finished with a squeeze to Bones' hand, letting her know without words that even though he had just let out a lot of frustration, he was okay. He didn't regret what he just said to Dr. Liao but he still hated being perceived as weak if even he was receiving medication that was designed to hurt every cell in his body. And he was trying not to whine like Parker does when he has a tummy ache.

"What does the blood work mean for Booth's treatment schedule, Dr. Liao?" Brennan asked him, Booth smiling at her predictable bluntness.

"Well, the low platelet count is what worries me the most. With the chemotherapy agents already lowering your body's resistance to infection and also the fatigue that you suffer, I do not want to risk the chance that you will start bleeding internally. This platelet count would make it impossible for your body to stop the bleed fast enough to be effective in your survival. Therefore, I would like to postpone the treatment at least one week," Dr. Liao paused as he saw the disappointment cross both of their faces. "I know this is not the news you wanted to hear, but the goal of going through this whole treatment is to ultimately have you go into remission and lead a normal life. That can't happen if you bleed out after bumping into your kitchen table. Understood?"

Booth let out a deep breath, finally sitting up in his chair, not releasing Bones' hand. "Yeah, doc, I get it."

"Now I have one more thing you are not going to want to hear," Dr. Liao started. "I strongly suggest that you avoid people for the next week," Dr. Liao held up his hand when he saw Booth open his mouth. "Booth, you are recovering from an infection, which is going to weaken your immune system even more than it already is from the chemotherapy. The more we stick to the schedule, the better the chance the treatment has to be successful. So I want to make sure that we do not have any more delays, okay?"

"So, no Parker?" Booth asked and Brennan's heart almost broke at the sound of his voice.

"It's just for a couple of weeks," Dr. Liao said, trying to placate his obvious disheartened patient. "Make sure you make an appointment for next week to get your blood drawn again."

With that, Dr. Liao left the room, leaving the soul mates alone to collect their thoughts.

Booth finally let go of Bones' hand and put his elbows on his knees, leaning over to put his head in his hands.

"This sucks," Brennan heard him mutter, though it was obstructed by his hands that were currently covering his face. She placed her hand on the back of his neck, gently massaging the area to give him some form of comfort.

"I know it does Booth, but Dr. Liao is right. Minimizing the delays in the treatment provide for the best chance of success. I think that is what Parker wants the most; a father that can be healthy in the long run."

Booth looked over his shoulder at her and smiled gently, leaning over to give her a quick kiss on the lips. "Thanks, Bones," he whispered as they broke apart. He suddenly stood up and grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's blow this Popsicle stand."

"But Booth, I don't see any popsicles here. Where is this stand? We are in the doctor's office," Brennan argued with her 'pinchy' face as Booth called it.

At her reply, Booth let out a loud laugh, the first in several days, and continued to lead her down the hallway.


	10. Chapter 8: The Burn Out Solution

A/N: Thanks for the story alerts and reviews! I absolutely love to hear what you think. Enjoy!

Chapter 8: The Burn Out Solution

Brennan stood on the forensic platform, staring at the same bones since she came in this morning four and a half hours ago. Yesterday, Booth received his fifth chemotherapy treatment, which meant this next week was not going to be fun, for either of them.

Last night, he woke up every couple of hours to roll over the side of the bed and vomit into the trashcan she had placed there before they went to sleep for that very reason. And every time, when he turned to her for comfort, shaking with the exhaustion he was experiencing, she was there to help him back to sleep. And she knew this would be the cycle for the next several days, when he would lose anywhere from 5-10 pounds that he would have to gain back in the following two weeks in order to get his last treatment.

"Dr. Brennan, what do you think this anomaly right here is?" Daisy asked her, having absolutely no idea what she was getting into.

"Which one, Ms. Wick? Is it the obvious one right here that I would expect any first year grad student to know, not to mention one of my hand-picked interns or the one right there which is actually a shadow caused by the lighting in the lab rather than any helpful information on the bones? Really, Ms. Wick, I do not have time for this nonsense and I would expect you to be farther along in your education at this point. You might want to re-evaluate whether or not you think you belong at an institution of this caliber because I certainly will when your next performance evaluation comes along."

With that, she snapped off her gloves and stormed off the platform and into her office, leaving Daisy looking heartbroken on the platform. The lab watched the scene, stunned at Brennan's outburst. Angela turned to Hodgins, who she had been talking to at the time, and asked the age old question when it came to Brennan and the squinterns.

"Divide and conquer?"

"Yep," Hodgins replied. "But let me take Dr. B this time and you take Daisy."

Angela's eyebrows shot up; usually she was the one who went to talk to Brennan but if Hodgins wanted to try, she was willing to give him a shot. "You sure?"

"Yeah, just leave your schedule open for tonight. You just made arrangements to go the new event the Jeffersonian is putting on tonight with Dr. B."

"You are going to get Bren away from Booth for a night? You know I have been trying to do that for only the last 4 months, right," Angela, told him, the skepticism and sarcasm heavy in her voice.

"Willing to make it interesting?" Hodgins asked, blatantly flirting with her.

Not one to be intimidated, Angela stepped right up to him, her heeled boots allowing her to be a little bit taller than him. "I'll bet you one home-cooked dinner that you can't get Bren to come out with me tonight."

Hodgins gave her a smirk. "Watch and learn, baby," he said with more confidence than he felt as he walked toward Brennan's office and Angela went to console the now sobbing Daisy on the forensic platform.

"Angela, I don't want to talk about what happened out there right now, okay? I don't need to talk about my feelings, I am just fine," Brennan said when she heard someone walk into her office, thinking it was Angela. She was the only one who usually risked Brennan's wrath after a bad day. And today was definitely a bad day. Her lack of sleep and worry about Booth at home was combining to be a perfect storm of crabbiness.

"Um, definitely not Angela, Dr. B, and I definitely don't want to talk about feelings. It would really hurt my standing as a man," Hodgins started as he stopped in the doorway. Brennan looked up at his statement, slightly embarrassed that she had gotten the male walking into her office confused with her very female best friend.

"I apologize, Dr. Hodgins. Please, come in," she amended and watched as Hodgins strolled into her office and took a seat in one of the chairs that were in front of her desk. "What can I help you with?"

"Well, Dr. B, I actually have more of a favor to ask," Hodgins started, still trying to figure out how exactly he was going to get Dr. B out for the night. "Angela has been trying tot get me to go to this event that the Jeffersonian is hosting tonight but I really, really don't want to go."

"You mean the event where they are bringing in native designers from Argentina? I can't believe you would not want to attend such a rare opportunity to speak with people involved in an art form that has gone back hundreds of years and has been that same way for that long. I had planned on going before…" she trailed off, not wanting to seem like she was blaming Booth for her not attending the event that she desperately wanted to see.

Hodgins gave her his best smile. "That's why you should go with her! Dr. B, the Sixers and the Celtics are playing tonight. I cannot miss this game. I made a bet with Dr. Lewis in the chemistry lab that the Sixers would win and I have to see the game. Can you please go with Ange to this thing tonight?" Hodgins asked, trying to remember the famous Booth charm smile to use, trying everything possible to get Bren out tonight.

This wasn't just so he could win the bet with Ange either. He saw how stressed out she had been ever since Booth got sick and while he admired her for taking care of him and being so devoted to him, Hodgins was convinced she was going to have a meltdown any time now if she didn't get a night off. And if that meant that he had to spend a night with a puking Booth, that's what that meant. Hodgins was shocked that all of the stress had not affected her work yet; it just proved what an amazing anthropologist and professional she was.

Brennan hesitated for a moment, weighing the options before answering. "I'm sorry, Dr. Hodgins but I cannot leave Booth alone right now in the course of his treatment." She really tried to keep the regret and slight resentment out of her voice but she knew that she failed. Feeling horrible, she tried to correct the impression she was sure she had left. "Not that I resent him at all. It is not his fault that he got cancer and needs help."

Hodgins pretended to be upset for a moment at her answer, even throwing in slumping against the back of his chair as part of the act. But in reality he was pausing to see if she would keep talking. If she was going to open up to him, even accidently, he wasn't going to stop her. He was silent for a moment before telling her his solution.

"Hey, Dr. B, why don't I come over tonight and stay with Booth and you go to the event? It'll be great! Booth and I can watch the game and you and Ange can go to the Argentina thing. So what time should I come over?" Hodgins asked, not bothering to let her approve of his idea.

"No, Dr. Hodgins, I don't think you understood me. I cannot leave Booth," she insisted, starting to get a little upset. The lack of sleep was really getting to her, as she was finding she was shorter with people than she normally was.

"No, I heard you, but why can't I stay with Booth for the night?"

"Because you can't okay!" she shouted at him, her already short fuse lighting up. "What if I go out for the night and he gets really sick and I am not there to help him? He gets really sick after these treatments, Hodgins, so sick that I sometimes wonder how he can gather up the necessary courage to go and get the treatment again when he knows exactly what is coming afterward. And I watch as he wastes away before my eyes and there is nothing I can do except be there for him every step of the way. I have this one small way I can help, Hodgins, and I am not going to do anything that might make him think that I am giving up on him because he can't give up. Because if he gives up, then the cancer will start growing in al of his organs and tissues and then he will die. And I can't loss him Hodgins," she finished softly, sinking back down into her chair, exhausted. Realizing she had said a lot, probably too much as far as she was concerned, she wanted to stop but couldn't. She felt better, strangely enough, so she just kept talking.

"I just can't loss him. I do not know what I would do. And I'm scared every time I leave the house in the morning that he won't be there when I get back, that he will die alone in his apartment during the day because of some electrolyte imbalance. Intellectually, I know it is improbable and as a scientist, I know the value of this treatment, that the chemotherapy combined with the radiation give him the best probability for success and a chance to live a normal, healthy life. But as a person, watching someone I love go through this treatment, it is horrible. It makes me feel inadequate as a person and a lover; that I can't help his body fight this and that I can't take any of it away. I just hope what I am doing is enough to compel him to keep fighting," she finally said before she stopped talking, putting her head in her hands in embarrassment.

She couldn't believe that she just unloaded all of her feelings on Hodgins. That had certainly not been her intention but once she started, she found that she just didn't want to stop.

Hodgins sat dumbfounded for a moment; one, that this plan had actually worked, and two, that she had been able to keep all of that to herself for the past five months.

"Dr. B," he started carefully. "Booth knows everything you do for him. He told me so himself a couple of weeks ago at the pool party I had. But he would want you to be healthy too. Because when he gets better, if you are not healthy like he will be, then he would regret it for the rest of his life. He does not want to be seen as a burden to you and he would be angry if he knew that you were not doing things that you wanted to do because of him. So please, do you and me a favor and go to this event with Ange tonight and let me hang out with Booth. After all, this may be the only time I can hang out with him and not worry about him shooting me," Hodgins said with a smile, trying to lighten the heavy mood that had descended upon her office.

It worked, as Brennan cracked a small smile. Thinking for a minute, she finally decided to go. "Okay, Hodgins, I'll go with Angela tonight. Come by Booth's apartment at around 6 pm." With that, she turned back to the file on her desk, feeling she could get some work done for the first time in a while.

"Sounds good, Dr. B," Hodgins said, knowing when he was dismissed and walked out of her office, looking forward to gloating to Angela for the rest of the day. He was definitely King of the Lab.

* * *

When Brennan unlocked the front door that night, she opened it to a quiet apartment, the sound of the television playing softly in the background. Walking into the living room, she saw her Booth sprawled out on the couch in his sweats and Flyers sweatshirt, covered by the afghan that was usually over the back of the couch, and his gray beanie upon his head. She smiled at him even though he couldn't see it; he was fast asleep.

"Hey, Dr. B," Hodgins said from the armchair in the room. He had a good night; Booth had enjoyed watching the game and they were able to have a fun 'guys night' despite the fact that Hodgins could tell that Booth was feeling sick most of the night. But he still seemed to have a good time.

Brennan had a good time as well. The event was exactly as interesting as she thought it would be and it was nice to be able to get back to her anthropology roots that she sometimes lost when she worked with Booth and the FBI. And even though she still felt some guilt about leaving Booth for the night, she felt completely refreshed and she knew that she could better care for Booth now that she didn't feel so burned out.

"Thanks for tonight, Hodgins. I had a really good time," she thanked him as he stood out and began to walk toward the door of the apartment.

"It was my pleasure. We had a good time, even though Booth will probably deny it if you asked. Can't be seen having a good time with a loser squint, after all," Hodgins said with a smile as he closed the door of the apartment and went home himself, pleased with the way the night went.

Brennan went over to her sleeping lover, wanting to check on him before she got ready for bed herself. As she walked toward him, he seemed to sense her presence and sleepily opened her eyes, giving her a soft smile as she approached.

"Hey, beautiful," he said, his voice gravelly with sleep. "Did you have a good time tonight?"

"I did," she said as she bent down and pushed his beanie up a little bit so she could press a kiss to his forehead.

"I'm glad you got out tonight, Bones. You have doing such an amazing job taking care of me that you deserve a break. I'm happy that you went," he said.

Brennan nodded, acknowledging his statement before changing the subject. "Did you use your mouthwash tonight?"

"Yep," he replied. "I feel like I could sleep for the next 12 hours."

"Let's go to bed then. I'm going to get ready. Do you need help getting back to the bedroom?" she asked, standing up again.

"Yep," he said as he grabbed her outstretched hand and letting her pull him up, smiling as she wrapped an arm around his waist while he wrapped his around her shoulder, bringing the afghan with them as they made their way to get some sleep.


	11. Chapter 9: The Next Phase

Chapter 9: The Next Phase

Booth was sitting on Brennan's couch in her office, playing with the Nintendo DS that Parker left in the car yesterday when he was visiting. While the video game was addicting, he was planning on taking the game console back to his son after he and Bones went to his first radiation treatment today. He was sent into Bones' office after she told him to get off the platform because he was driving her crazy with his boredom.

Four weeks ago, he went through his sixth and last chemotherapy treatment and right now, he was feeling pretty good. If this week were like the last five months, he would be puking his guts out and feeling like a piece of shit right about now, so he figured any state he was in where the world wasn't spinning mercilessly was okay with him. And while he was anxious about the radiation treatment he was about to undergo, he knew that it couldn't be any worse than what he just went through.

According to Dr. Liao, the team of doctors that were assigned to his case decided that it would be good for him to go through a six-week course of radiation, which would take 15-20 minutes everyday. They were going to irradiate the area where they found the lymph node with the micro-metastasis, which in his case would be his right cervical lymph node, or in his terms, the right side of his neck. Bones told him that the lasers, which Parker thought were pretty cool, were going to damage the DNA of the cells that still remained around the area of his removed lymph nodes, just in case any cancer cells remained. All Booth really remembered was that this type of therapy was really corrosive to the skin in the area so he had to be diligent about applying aloe vera lotion four times a day to minimize the irritation.

She also insisted that she go with him to the therapy. They scheduled it at 12:30 pm everyday so that it fell within her lunch break since Dr. Liao said it would be best it Booth had someone to drive him to and from treatment just in case he had a bad reaction. And even though Booth insisted that he could take a cab, he was happy and relieved when she firmly shot down that idea and told him in no uncertain terms that she would drive him to his treatments.

The arrangement worked for him too because that meant he could spend the morning at the lab and consult on any open cases that the Jeffersonian was working on. He missed his work so badly and just because he was on medical leave didn't mean that Bones' skills were not still in high demand. While she had refused to take a new partner while he was out of commission, several FBI Agents from the homicide division took over Booth's caseload and did most of the legwork on their own, only coming to Bones for her squinty conclusions. Booth personally loved the arrangement because he didn't trust anyone else to watch her back out there like he could. He was itching to get back, even if it only meant consulting, because it would mean some of the normalcy in his life was coming back. Even though he still had a long way to go before he would be fit enough to pass an FBI physical for a field agent, the fact that he wasn't going to be burdened with being as sick as a dog every three weeks anymore was a huge relief.

"Booth, that insistent video game noise is still distracting me," Bones said as she stomped into his office, obviously a little grumpy this morning. He turned the game off out of respect for her work and where he was, but it didn't help his boredom.

"I'm sorry, Bones, but I am sooo bored," he said with a whine he learned from his son. Unfortunately, Bones was not in the mood today.

"Booth if you are going to act like a child, maybe I should have dropped you off at Parker's school this morning with all of the other children instead of bringing you here today. But I have work to do so you either need to find a quiet activity to do or go up to the lounge to play the game," she told him, not looking away from her computer screen. Booth couldn't help but smile at her tone though, which made her even angrier. "Booth…" she said in warning.

"Sorry, Bones, but you sounded exactly like my third grade teacher for a minute there," he said as he got up and walked over to her desk, spinning her in her chair so that she faced him. He leaned down; bracing his hands on the arm rests on either side of her body and kissed the pout off her lips. When she put one hand on her chest, right over his heart as she leaned up to respond to the kiss, he knew that she was not really mad at him.

"Come on, Bones," he said as he broke the kiss and went to grab her winter coat from the coat rack by her office door. "Let me make it up to you with lunch before we have to go to radiation."

"All right," she said, quickly closing her laptop before letting him help her put her trench coat on.

Normally, they would have walked to the diner, but the combination of the chilly October weather and the fact they had somewhere to be afterward, they got in Brennan's hybrid SUV and made there way to their lunch. As they walked into the diner, the warmth of the heater warmed them after the blast of cold air chilled them when they got out of the car.

Booth took off his beanie, already sweating with the rapid increase in temperature as they took their customary seats in the diner. And even though he never considered himself a vain person, he always braced himself for the stares when he took off his headwear in public. Because while it was not uncommon for men to have shaved heads, his thinned out eyebrows and eyelashes combined with the fact the he had absolutely no facial hair, including stubble, and not a hair on his head, told people that there was more to his condition than just being razor-happy. He also hated that despite the fact that he had been very diligent about using his alcohol-free mouthwash four times a day and brushing his teeth often; the chemotherapy caused some stains on his teeth that Dr. Liao assured him would go away after a couple of weeks. It still sucked though.

But when his thoughts were starting to get him down, he always had Bones to rely on and cheer him up again. After his fifth treatment, she had started taking care of herself better as well, starting her karate classes again and even going to a three-day conference put on by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. It thrilled him that she was able to put herself first for once and it showed in her behavior, making their time together so much more pleasurable, in more ways than one.

Their meals came even without them ordering, their regular waitress Sandy knowing exactly what they wanted; a Cobb salad without the bacon and with a raspberry vignette for Brennan and a cheeseburger for Booth with his fries put on a plate between them, saving Brennan the trouble of reaching across the table to steal them from his plate.

"So what are you working on right now, Bones?" he asked as they started their meal.

Brennan looked at him, questioning why he was curious in her work. Normally, whenever she talked about her museum work, his eyes got droopy and glazed over. "Why?" she asked, being her normal blunt self.

He shrugged while playing with his burger, not making eye contact with her. "Just good to think about something else, that's all," he told her.

Deciding to do as he wished right now, she began talking about her current work, but put it in the back of her mind to ask him about it later. "Well, currently I am focusing my efforts on some skeletons that were discovered in Lexington when they broke ground on a new housing segment. We are trying to ascertain if they were soldiers in the Revolutionary War. It is quite exciting actually, because…"

Booth started to tune out of what she was saying but not to the tone of her voice, which was filled with excitement. He loved hearing her speak about something that she is really passionate about, even if he didn't understand half the things she was saying.

Lunch was finished in short order and before they knew it, they were in the waiting room of the radiation treatment center, which was in the basement of the outpatient pavilion near George Washington Hospital. It was in the basement so that all of the radiation was in an area that could be kept away from the other patients.

Booth went into the dressing room and took his shirt and his beanie off, putting on one of the hospital robes that was in the room, just like the nurses instructed him upon his arrival. He was just happy he was able to keep his pants on. They had lockers available for him to put his personal belongings in along with the keys on a wristband. They also provided him with a hospital identification bracelet that could be reused for all the times he came for his treatment. After changing, he went and joined Bones in the waiting room, where she was sitting quietly and reading one of her anthropology journals. But when he sat down in the chair next to her, she reached out and grasped his hand, linking her fingers with his, without even looking up from his reading. The gesture meant everything to Booth. He reached over with his other hand and put it on her cheek, turning her head to face him, and planted a soft kiss on her lips.

"What was that for?" she asked as they broke the kiss, surprised at his sudden gesture.

"For being you, Bones. Nothing more."

"Well, that is easy," she said, making him laugh.

"Mr. Booth," the nurse called out to him from behind the door of the treatment room. She gave his hand one last squeeze before he got up and went through the door to the treatment.

Brennan went back to reading her journal, knowing that the treatment would only take about twenty minutes. As she sat there, she saw another couple walk into the room, noting that they were a little bit older than she and Booth, but by the rings on their left ring fingers, she new that this couple was married. The woman looked like Booth did, with no hair and more gaunt features and they even had matching outfits in the hospital robes. When the woman's name was called, Brennan went back to her journal, trying to not let her natural anthropological curiosity to be mistaken for being nosy.

"Who are you waiting for?" the man asked. Since there was no one else in the waiting room, Brennan used her excellent deductive reasoning abilities to ascertain that the man was talking to her.

"Oh, my partner. He is here for radiation therapy," she replied, knowing that the term applied to both her and Booth's working relationship and their intimate one as well.

"Yeah, my wife is here for that, too. Breast cancer," he clarified.

"Brain cancer," she told the man, not knowing why she was confiding in this stranger. Perhaps knowing that they were both in a similar situation, or 'in the same boat' as Booth would say, made her feel comfortable around here.

"The diagnosis was a punch in the gut, for both of us. And then with all the chemo, definitely brought a change to our family life. But I'll do anything to help her out and make her feel comfortable and let her focus solely on getting better," he said and even Brennan could see the love for his wife in his eyes.

"How do you do that?" she asked him, her anthropology journal now laying forgotten in her lap, never bypassing the opportunity to do some research.

The man sighed, pausing for a moment before telling her. "I know what she worries about the most is that our two daughters will forget her if the worst were to happen. And I know she doesn't want their last memories of her to be of her as a sick patient. So I set up opportunities for them to do some fun things together as mother and daughters that will let them form some more memoires not associated with cancer," he said, smiling. "Never before in my life had I made an appointment for manicures and pedicures and now the salon knows me by my voice over the phone."

Brennan smiled at his confession, thinking that Booth must feel the same way about Parker. He had been unable to go to most of his All-Star games this last summer and when he was there, he didn't have the energy to do the roughhousing she had observed between the two before Booth's diagnosis. "Thank you for your honesty and I hope your wife feels better," she told the man as she got up and exited the waiting room, telling the receptionist on the way out to tell Booth to meet her out front.

Once she found she got cell reception again, she scrolled down her contacts until she found the name she was looking for. The person receiving the call picked up after two rings.

"Rebecca? Hi, it's Temperance. I need a favor."

* * *

Brennan was again sitting happily with her anthropology journal but this time, it was in Booth's apartment, where she was currently encased by his comfy couch and had her feet up on the coffee table in front of her. This is not normally how she would spend a Saturday afternoon, but after a busy week that included Booth's first radiation treatments, she was ready to relax during the time she had to herself, knowing it was going to be ending soon. Her family would be coming home soon.

About six hours ago, she had sent the Booth boys off to a ropes course and hiking adventure in Rock Creek Park. She had managed to convince Rebecca to switch weekends so that Parker could stay with them and have this fun father-son bonding experience. After consulting with Booth's doctors, she knew that he would have the energy required to do this with his son.

Suddenly, the door flew open and a pair of feet came running towards her.

"Bones, that was so awesome!" Parker exclaimed as he jumped up on the couch right next to her. "Me and Dad went on this rope ladder up to the top to the wall and went across a wire at the top! Then they had walls to climb up and over and when we were hiking, Dad took me to the top of the rock so we could look over the whole park! It was so awesome," he reiterated at the end of his story.

"Parks, why don't you get washed up for dinner?" Booth told him as he came in the room with a box of pizza in his hands.

"I was just telling Bones how much fun we had today, huh, Dad?" his son asked him, not moving from place on the couch.

Booth went over and ruffled his son's blonde curls after putting the pizza box down on the coffee table with the paper plates and napkins that he had picked up in the kitchen. "We sure did, bub. Now go wash up so we can eat!"

That was all the motivation the boy needed as he bounced off the couch and ran into the bathroom. Booth took the now vacant place on the couch, sinking into the cushions. She turned toward him, tucking one of her legs underneath her body and putting one of her hands on his forearm.

"How was it today?" she asked, knowing Parker had a good time but worried about Booth's silence.

His smile told her she had no reason to worry.

"Bones, it was amazing. I am beyond exhausted right now but it felt like old times between us, you know? We were able to go out and play again for the first time in what seems like years. The last thing I want is for him to see me as a sick old man. I feel like I am finally turning the corner to being normal again and being able to do those kind of things with Parker is further proof of that."

At that moment, Parker bounced back in the room again and the Booth boys participated in another one of their normal activities: seeing who could stuff the most pizza in their mouth at one time. Brennan personally liked their afternoon activities better.

And after watching a movie about a war in space, Booth tucked Parker into bed, finally worn out. Brennan was in the kitchen loading the dishwasher when she felt a pair of arms circle her waist from behind and a kiss placed on the back of her neck. She straightened up and turned around in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down to meet her for a kiss.

"I'll never forget what you did for me and my son today, Bones. Ever," he said when they broke the kiss, his dark brown eyes gazing into her sky blue ones.

"Just planning something fun for my boys," she replied, loving the way his eyes lit up at her statement.

With that, she took him back to their bedroom and let him show her how appreciative he was through his actions.


	12. Chapter 10: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

A/N: Thank you everyone for the support so far. I did want to address something several people have brought up, very astutely in fact: should Booth have made a sperm donation before the chemotherapy? Yes, chemotherapy does affect the reproductive system, like it affects all systems, and it is a good idea if the person going through the chemotherapy is interested in having more children. But if you remember when this story takes place, right after Season 4 Episode 25 "The Critic in the Cabernet," he made a donation in that episode when he hallucinated Stewie from "Family Guy" in the sperm bank. So the reason why I didn't write that in the story is because it had already happened in canon, in the show. Does that make sense? I probably should have addressed that in the first couple of chapters.

Secondly, please watch David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel 'Stand Up 2 Cancer' tonight, September 10 at 8 pm. It is on all major networks in the United States. They will be a part of a group of celebrities participating in the show. It should be a very entertaining evening with a great message attached as well.

Okay, here is the next chapter and I know it is super short but I wanted to let everyone know I'm still working on this one. Enjoy.

Chapter 10: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Booth was half way through his radiation therapy and to be honest, he felt really good. He had most of his energy back, he was starting to work out again, and his hair was starting to grow back. Granted, it wasn't very much, currently it was a little shorter than he wore it in his Army days, but at least his head was bald anymore. He was just grateful it was starting to cover up the scar on the back of his head that was left over from his surgery.

The best part was that Parker was starting to deal with his illness more effectively. The play date that Bones set up for the both of them really did wonders in starting to repair their relationship. When he was going through the chemo, it was almost like Parker was afraid to touch him, like he was afraid he was going to hurt him in some way. That was the most painful part for Booth to withstand. Rebecca told him Parker had acted out at home when he heard about his diagnosis, opening defying her like her had never done before. Sweets said it was just his way of expressing his feelings over the cancer, but it disturbed Booth that he could be at least somewhat responsible for his son's bad behavior.

No matter how much aloe vera Booth out on his neck though, he could still see where the radiation was scarring his skin. Bones kept telling him that you couldn't really see it, but Booth knew the truth. He had several angry red lines on the right side of his neck where the radiation was directed at it for 15 minutes a day, five times a week. He was sick and tired of all the treatment doing stuff to his body. And while he was very happy that the radiation did not have the horrible side effects that the chemo did, he was tired of all this 'treatment' affecting everything about him.

But today was Saturday, which meant two good thing were going to happen: one, no radiation, and two, he would get to spend time with Parker AND Bones today. They were going to look for Christmas trees and then spending the rest of the day decorating it. To say Booth was excited would be the understatement on the century. Six months ago when he got his diagnosis, he didn't even know if he would be around for this Christmas and now to be able to spend it with the two people he loved most in the world was awesome.

"Dad, let's go! All the good trees are going to be gone!" Parker said, coming into the living room of his apartment, already decked out in all of his snow gear, ready to face the cold December weather.

"Parker, it is highly unlikely that all the 'good trees,' as you call them, will be gone. There are three weeks until Christmas and there are also lots of variables to consider when thinking about 'good trees'-"

"Let's go, Bones! Parker's right!" Booth interrupted, steering her by her shoulder out of the door and down the stairs, Parker running ahead of them with glee. Even though he was a big ten-year-old now, Booth was happy to see that he could still get wrapped up in the joyful atmosphere of Christmas.

The tree lot was filled with families that were also braving the cold weather to find the perfect addition to their homes for the next several weeks. Booth and Bones walked behind Parker, their intertwined hands swinging between them as they helped Parker debate the good, the bad, and the ugly about all of the tress in the lot. Finally, after about an hour and a half, cooling temperatures and finding the 'perfect tree' in Parker's opinion finally allowed them to go home.

Booth was engaged the entire time they were decorating, dutifully stringing the popcorn when Parker became too frustrated with the task to continue, but he couldn't help but be introspective. He loved watching Bones and his son interact together, laughing with them, and enjoying just being in their presence.

"Booth, you okay?" Bones asked as she joined him on the couch, cuddling up next to him as he put his arm around her to accommodate her.

"Yeah, Bones just thinking. I know that is usually your forte but I thought I would try it out for a while," he quipped to her.

"Don't hurt yourself," she replied. Booth couldn't help but smiling at her sarcasm.

"Bones, was that a joke?" he teased, lightly tickling her side, satisfied when she started to squirm.

She leaned up to whisper in his ear. "Whatever you're thinking, just don't you dare give up on me, Booth. You are beating this illness," she finished, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Booth just nodded at her words, his throat too tight for words.

"Dad, can you help me put the lights on the top of the tree?" Parker asked. Booth nodded to Parker, knowing he better help before his cleaver son decided to get a chair and try it for himself, getting lost in the moment with his family and leaving his thoughts for another day.


	13. Chapter 11: Remission

A/N: This is it, folks, the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed this story. As hard as it was to write at times, it really helped me process my mom's own battle with cancer and I hope it helped or touched some other people as well. Thanks for all the support you all have given this story. My mom loved reading the comments you wrote along the way and I am very happy to report that she is in remission. And while the battle is not completely over, she won this round. Thanks again and enjoy.

Chapter 11: Remission

Booth sat, bouncing his leg up and down in a constant, fast jabbing motion that drove Brennan crazy, even though she didn't make a move to stop it. He needed some way to release all the nervous energy that was sure to be bottled up inside him.

"Booth, why don't you go and sit on the exam table while we wait for Dr. Liao?" Brennan suggested. When they came into the exam room, Booth immediately sat in one of the chairs that were along the wall of the room instead of his customary spot on the exam table. She didn't say anything about it at first as he gripped her hand as she sat down next to him but thought that with the doctor coming in soon, he should probably move.

"No way, Bones. They already made me put on this stupid gown," he told her, gesturing down to the standard issue hospital gown he had on. Brennan couldn't help but smile though when she realized that he still kept his jeans on.

"Well, not exactly," he sheepishly admitted as he leaned over the armrest of his chair to give her a kiss. "I'm just tired of being a patient, Bones. I'll get up on the table when Dr. Liao gets here but for now, I just want to sit here with my beautiful girlfriend."

She smiled and leaned over to give him a kiss of her own. "Well, at least this should be the last appointment for a while right?" she asked, watching him pale slightly. She knew he was nervous about this appointment.

It was the New Year and what Brennan hoped would be a new start for both of them. Three weeks ago, Booth finished his radiation treatment. It had gone how the doctors hoped it would and besides some slight scarring around the surgical scar on his neck where they had originally removed his lymph nodes and directed the majority of the radiation treatment, he had done really well. Two weeks after the radiation treatment finished, he had his scheduled CAT scan and the doctors were mostly pleased by what they saw. But what worried them was they thought they saw a small mass on the right upper lobe of his lung. After getting some more blood work from Booth and sending the scans off to an expert for an official interpretation, they were back. And Brennan knew Booth had been in hell this last week, wondering about the 'what ifs.' What if the chemo and the radiation didn't work? What if the cancer metastasized to his lungs? What would his future look like?

She could see all of these questions running through his mind right now as she mentioned that maybe this was his last appointment. Because today was the day they would find out if Booth was in remission or not. And if he was, he would just have to come in for follow-up appointments once every six months for the first five years and once a year after that.

Pulling him close, she positioned his head in her shoulder and started running her fingers through his short hair that was more fuzzy than spikey (so much so that he stopped wearing a cap out in public about three weeks ago) as she pressed a kiss to his forehead. The fact that he willingly cuddled into her spoke volumes to her about his worry.

"It's going to be okay, Booth," she told him against his head. "Whatever happens, we will get through this together."

Booth closed his eyes at her statement, so grateful to have her in his life. He buried himself further in her embrace and let her touch soothe him. While physically he felt almost as good as he did before this whole ordeal started, emotionally, he was scared. If the cancer had started to grow in his lungs, he wasn't sure what he was going to do. He honestly didn't know if he could go through the chemo again. It wasn't that he wanted to give up; after all, he had so much to live for. But the chemo was so draining to every part of his body he wasn't sure it was worth it. And he hated thinking that.

But Bones, in her typical Bones way, told him never to jump to conclusions. He was really trying to be positive and it helped that he was able to spend a lot of his time with Bones and Parker. Ever since he started the radiation treatment and he felt better, Rebecca had allowed him to spend more time with Parker, pretty much every weekend actually. He had even resumed work at the FBI as a desk jockey, not able to pass the physical just yet to become an active field agent again. It felt nice to be a functioning member of society again and making at least a portion of the salary he made before his illness, before the cancer.

A knock on the door made them both sit up as Booth got up and perched himself on the edge of the table.

"Yeah," Booth called out when he was situated.

Dr. Liao entered the room and Brennan could feel Booth's apprehension rise. She wished she could go over and be with him but she knew his alpha-male tendencies would not allow that.

"Mr. Booth, let me just take a look at your neck before we get started," Dr. Liao told him and Booth took down the right shoulder of the gown so that the doctor could get a better look.

Dr. Liao spent a couple of minutes looking at the scars there and Booth was trying to get a read on the man using his developed people skills but he couldn't tell what he was thinking. It was driving him absolutely insane.

When Dr. Liao sat back down on the stool provided for him, Booth thought he was going to burst with all the nervous energy that was coursing through his veins. He began to fidget on the table, which was kind of hard considering he didn't have a lot of space.

"Well, Mr. Booth, after looking at your blood work and conferring with the specialist who looked at your Cat scans, I am happy to report that you are officially in remission," Dr. Liao told him, finally looking up from his charting.

Booth was shocked. He felt like his mind went blank, not unlike eight months ago when he first received his diagnosis. But this time, instead of seeing nothing when his mind went blank, he saw himself coaching Parker's All-Star team, saw him and Bones' wedding, saw himself holding that child that she wanted, their child, saw himself at his son's graduation, and saw himself growing old with Bones, surrounded by grandchildren. He didn't see himself riddled with cancer and dying in a hospital bed for the first time in a long time.

In the most impulsive thing she had ever done, Brennan got up and went to him, stepping between his spread legs and wrapping him in the tightest hug she had ever given. He in turn wrapped his arms around her and buried his head in between her neck and her shoulder. She could feel tears streaming down her cheeks and felt her shoulder getting wet as well from his tears, tears she knew he was trying desperately to hide.

"So from here," Dr. Liao continued, smiling as he saw the couple celebrate, "we are going to want to see you in six months. If you are waking up in the middle of the night sweating or if you have an unexplained fever, please go the local emergency department and give my office a call. But other than that, you can resume all of your normal activities."

Booth let go of Brennan for a minute to get and shake he doctor's hand. "Thank you, doctor. I really appreciate it."

"You did all the work, Mr. Booth. We just helped you along the way. Good luck to you both," Dr. Liao told them as he left the room and closed the door behind him.

"Let's get out of here, Bones. I don't want to spend a second more in doctor's offices," Booth said, shedding the gown and pulling his sweater and coat on.

Brennan couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm, so happy to see some of the carefree Booth she lost for a bit to the treatment.

"Okay, Booth, let's grab some lunch and spend the day celebrating. I don't feel like going back to work," Brennan told him as they walked out of the building and into the cold weather of Washington D.C. She wrapped her arm around his and tucked herself into his side.

"Bones, you don't want to work? Maybe you should go to the doctor," Booth teased her, kissing her temple as they walked to the car.

"I'll even let you drive my car to the diner," Brennan told him, tossing him the keys to her Sequoia. He laughed with her and opened her car door for her before going to the other side to get in himself.

As he started the car and headed toward the diner, he was excited at the prospect of the next day, which was something that had been absent from his life for a while. Dr. Liao had told him that there was a chance that the cancer could come back, especially within the next five years, but for now, there was not a still cancer cell in his body. He couldn't wait to tell his son and the rest of the squints, but for now, he was happy to spend the afternoon with the love of his life, celebrating the fact that he had won this round, this fight, and now had a life to look forward to living. He had always been a survivor and now, he was a cancer survivor.


End file.
